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THE CASE FOR
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
On the Life Hereafter
THE NEW REVELATION
THE VITAL MESSAGE
THE COMING OF THE FAIRIES
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
THE WANDERINGS OF A SPIRITUALIST
OUR AMERICAN ADVENTURE
A History of the Great War
THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN
FRANCE AND FLANDERS — S Vols.
Poems
THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH
Novels and Stories
DANGER! And Other Stories
THE DOINGS OF RAFFLES HAW
HIS LAST BOW
Some Latin Reminiscences
of Sherlock Holmes
NEW YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
THE CASE FOR
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
WITH CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE BY
EXPERIENCED RESEARCHERS
AND PHOTOGRAPHERS
ILLUSTRATED
NEW xsr YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1923,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY. I
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PREFACE
The publicity given to the recent attacks on Psychic
Photography has been out of all proportion to their
scientific value as evidence. When Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle returned to Great Britain, after his successful
tour in America, the controversy was in full swing. With
characteristic promptitude he immediately decided to
meet these negative attacks by a positive counter-attack,
and this volume is the outcome of that decision.
We have used the term “Spirit Photography” on
the title-page as being the popular name by which these
phenomena are known. This does not imply that either
Sir Arthur or I imagine that everything supernormal
must be of spirit origin. There is, undoubtedly, a
broad borderland where these photographic effects may
be produced from forces contained within ourselves.
This merges into those higher phenomena of which
many cases are here described. Those desiring fuller
information on this subject are referred to “Photo-
graphing the Invisible,” by James Coates.
It was only when editing the matter for these pages
that I fully realised what an overwhelming mass of
reliable material we had to work upon. In restricting
this book to the necessary limits it has only been pos-
sible to make use of a small portion of this evidence.
Many more cases have been placed on record and may
be published on some future occasion. Most of the
[y]
PREFACE
letters accompanying these descriptions display a deep
and genuine affection for the maligned mediums of
the Crewe Circle. Our hearty thanks are due to all
those friends who have so readily co-operated in this
work and who are so willing to brave the discomforts
of publicity for what they know to be the truth.
Fred Barlow.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Preface by Fred Barlow v
CHAPTER
I THE CREWE CIRCLE 13
II SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCES 21
III EVIDENTIAL TESTS AND THEIR RESULTS .... 28
IV AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE AND HIS CRITICS . 38
V FURTHER DIFFICULTIES CONSIDERED 55
VI THE ATTACK ON MRS. DEANE AND MR. VEARNCOMBE 60
VII THE GENESIS AND HISTORY OF THE CREWE CIRCLE
BY MISS F. R. SCATCHERD 70
VIII EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF PSYCHIC
PHOTOGRAPHY BY FRED BARLOW 79
IX CONCLUSIVE PROOF FROM MANY SOURCES ... 96
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Barlow, Mr. H. D., Psychic and Normal Photographs of 127
Burgess, Mrs., with Psychic Picture of Her Uncle . . 127
Buxton, Mrs., and Daughter, with Psychic Picture of
Her Father 47
Colley, Archdeacon, Psychic Message in the Handwriting
of 14
Colley, Archdeacon, Normal Handwriting of ... 14
Colley, Archdeacon, Photomicrograph of Portion of Nor-
mal Signature 78
Colley, Archdeacon, Photomicrograph of Portion of Sig-
nature in Psychic Message 78
Crawford, Dr. W. J., Psychic Message in the Handwrit-
ing of 15
Crawford, Dr. W. J., Normal Handwriting of . 15
Crookes, Sir William, with Psychic Face 31
Cushman, Agnes, Psychic Picture of 63
Cushman, Agnes, Normal Photograph of 63
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, and Group, with Psychic Mes-
sage from Archdeacon Colley 14
East, Mr. and Mrs. H., with Psychic and Normal Pic-
tures of Son 47
Foulds, Mrs. R., with Psychic Photograph of Her Mother no
Foulds, Mrs. R., Normal Photograph of the Mother of no
Griere, Mrs. A. E., with Psychic Likeness of Husband
and Father m
Griere, Mrs. A. E., Photograph of the Husband of . . in
[ix]
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Jeffrey, Mr. Wm., and Daughter, Showing Ectoplasmic
Bag 62
Jeffrey, Mr. Wm., and Daughter, with Psychic Likeness
of Mrs. Jeffrey 62
Maddocks, Mr. S., with Psychic Likeness of First Wife 95
Maddocks, Mr. S., Normal Photograph of the First
Wife of 95
Pickup, Mrs., with Psychic Likeness of Husband . . . 126
Pickup, Mrs., Photograph of the Husband of . . . . 126
S.S.S.P., Group Photograph with Psychic Face ... 30
Spencer, Major R. E. E., with Psychic Face .... 31
Tweedale, the Rev. C. L., and Wife, with Psychic Like-
ness of Mrs. Tweedale’s Father ...... 46
Tweedale, the Rev. C. L., Photograph of the Father-
in-law of 46
Walker, Mr. and Mrs. Harry, and Friends, with Psychic
Likeness of Mr. Wm. Walker 79
Walker, Mr. Wm., with Psychic Message in Handwrit-
ing of Mr. W. T. Stead 79
Walker, Mr. Wm., Psychic Message in Handwriting of 94
Walker, Mr. Wm., Specimen of Handwriting of 94
W
THE CASE FOR
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
*
THE CASE FOR
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
CHAPTER I
THE CREWE CIRCLE
An accusation of a damaging, and, as I believe, of an
entirely unfounded character, has been brought forward
by Mr. Harry Price against Mr. Hope, whose name
has for more than seventeen years been associated with
the strange phenomenon which has been called spirit
photography. I will deal later with this accusation with
which the Society for Psychic Research has unfor-
tunately associated itself by publishing the report of
it in their official journal. Before touching upon it I
should wish to take a broader sweep and to show the
overpowering weight of evidence which exists as to
the reality of Mr. Hope’s most remarkable gift.
If a man were accused of cowardice it would be
natural that his defender should not confine himself
to the particular case, but should examine the man’s
whole career and put forward instances of valour as
an argument against the charge. So also if a man is
accused of dishonesty a long record of honesty would
be his most complete defence. Therefore in consider-
ing the case of Mr. Hope, and the value of his medium-
[13]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
ship, one must not limit one’s investigation to a single
case, where errors of observation and of deduction may
creep in, but must take a broader view which will
embrace an account of a long series of cases, vouched
for by men and women of the highest character, and
incompatible with any form of fraud. If the reader
will have the patience to follow my facts and my argu-
ment, I hope to make it clear to any unprejudiced mind
that there is overwhelming evidence that we have in
Mr. Hope a man endowed with most singular powers,
and that, instead of persecuting and misrepresenting
him, it would be wiser if we took a sympathetic view
of his remarkable work, which has brought consolation
to the afflicted, and conviction to many who' had lost
all belief in the independent life of the spirit.
Many speak of Mr. Hope and of the Crewe Circle
without any definite idea of what the words mean. Let
me explain, then, that Mr. William Hope, who is a
working-man, discovered, some seventeen years ago,
quite by chance, that this remarkable power of pro-
ducing extra faces, figures or objects upon photographic
plates had been given to him. In the first instance he
was taking a fellow-workman, and the plate, when
developed, was found to contain an extra figure which
was recognised as being a likeness of his comrade’s
sister, who had recently passed away.
This form of mediumship is rare, but from the days
of Mumler, who first showed it in 1861, there has
never been a time when one or more sensitives have
not been able to demonstrate it.
Hope was greatly surprised at his own results, but
he had the good fortune in early days to meet the late
[14]
Fig. 1. — -Impression received upon a marked Fig. 2. — Specimen of Archdeacon Colley’s writ-
plate which never left the author’s hands, save ing during his lifetime. ( See p. 22.)
when in carrier. ( See p. 21.)
Fig. 3. — Psychograph in the handwriting ot
Dr. W. J. Crawford. ( See p. 25.)
Fig. 4. — Specimen of Dr. W. J. Crawford’s writing
during his lifetime.
THE CREWE CIRCLE
Archdeacon Colley, an enlightened member of the
Anglican Church, who tested his powers, endorsed
them and appreciated their value. It was he who gave
Hope his first stand camera, the old-fashioned instru-
ment to which he still clings, and which, with its bat-
tered box and broken leg, is familiar to many of us.
No one knows the story of these beginnings so well
as Miss Scatcherd, who was the intimate friend of the
Archdeacon and shared the evidence which had so im-
pressed him. Miss Scatcherd has kindly consented to
jot down her reminiscences of these early days, that
I may include them in the later pages of this volume.
Suffice it if I say, at present, that Hope has been
before the public for seventeen years, that during that
time many special tests have been demanded of him
and have been successfully met, that he has been closely
observed by experts of all sorts — scientific men (in-
cluding Sir William Crookes), journalists, professional
photographers and others — that he has patiently sub-
mitted himself to all sorts of experiment, and that he
has emerged from this most drastic ordeal with the
complete support and approval of far the greater part
of his clients. That he has been fiercely attacked goed
without saying, for every medium has that experience,
but each fresh allegation against him has ended in
smoke, while his gifts have grown stronger with time,
so that the percentage of blanks in his results is, I
should say, lower than it used to be. No medium
can ever honestly guarantee success, but it would prob-
ably be within the mark if one claimed that Hope
attained it three times out of five, though the results
vary much in visibility and value, being mere vague
[15]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
outlines in some cases, and in others so detailed in their
perfection that the extra is clearer and more lifelike
than the sitter. These variations seem to depend upon
the state of health of the medium, the qualities of the
investigator, the atmospheric conditions and other
obscure causes.
In person, Hope is a man who gives the impression
of being between fifty and sixty years of age, with the
manner and appearance of an intelligent working-man.
His forehead is high and indicates a good, if untrained,
brain beneath it. The general effect of his face is
aquiline with large, well-opened, honest blue eyes, and
a moustache which is shading from yellow to grey.
His voice is pleasant, with a North Country accent
which becomes very pronounced when he is excited.
His hands with their worn nails and square-ended
fingers are those of the worker, and the least adapted
to sleight-of-hand tricks of any that I have seen.
Mrs. Buxton, who aids him, is a kindly, pleasant-
faced woman on the sunny side of middle-age. Her
mediumistic powers seem to be akin to those of Hope,
and though the latter had all his earlier results inde-
pendently, he is stronger when he combines his forces
with Mrs. Buxton’s.
They both give an impression of honesty and frank-
ness, which increases as one comes to know them more
closely. I have never met two people who seemed to
me from manner and appearance to be less likely to be
in a conspiracy to deceive the public.
They and all their circle are spiritualists of a Salva-
tion Army type, much addicted to the hearty singing
of hymns and the putting up of impromptu prayers.
[16]
THE CREWE CIRCLE
Hope, the most unconventional of beings, has been
known in the midst of one of his photographic lectures
(which he delivers occasionally in his shirt-sleeves) to
say, “And now, my friends, we will warm up with a
hymn,” in which the audience, unable to escape, has
to acquiesce. It is a type of character which associates
itself sometimes, I admit, with a loathsome form of
hypocrisy, but which has in it something peculiarly
childlike and sweet when it is perfectly honest and
spontaneous as it is, to the best of my belief, in the
case of the two mediums in question.
Some prejudice can be excited against Hope by the
mere assertion that he is a professional medium. The
public is aware that fraud — sometimes unhappily real,
sometimes only alleged — is too often associated with
this profession. Sufficient allowance is not made for
the fact that the papers only take note of psychic things
when they go wrong, and never when they go right.
The dishonest medium is so easily found out that one
could hardly make a living at so precarious a trade.
In a very extended experience, which covers many
hundreds of seances, I have only encountered fraud
three or four times. Had I registered those cases and
omitted the others, I would have given the impression
of continued fraud, which is exactly how the matter
is presented to the public who are continually hood-
winked, not by the spiritualists but by the critics and
so-called “exposers” who represent what is exceptional
as being constant.
It is exactly this prejudice which prevents a medium
or his friends from bringing an action for libel, so
that the unhappy man or woman becomes a butt for
[17]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
any charge or any ridicule, the assailants knowing well
that the ordinary legal rights of a Briton are hardly
applicable to one who can be represented as living from
a profession which is not recognised by our laws. This
cowardly medium-baiting will cease only when the pub-
lic show, by abstaining from the purchase of the jour-
nals which pursue it, that they have no sympathy with
such persecutions.
I would wish to point out, however, that Hope is not
in a strict sense a professional medium. I have never
met anyone who seemed to me less venal than he. I
am aware of a case where an exploiter approached him
with a proposal to turn his gift into money, but was
received in the coldest possible manner. Twice when
I have sat with him at Crewe he has refused to take
a fee, though he could never have known that the fact
would be made public. It is true that on each occasion
I disregarded him to the extent of leaving some re-
membrance upon the mantelpiece when his back was
turned, but I have been assured by others that he has
again and again refused all remuneration for his sit-
ting, and has charged the ridiculous sum of 4s. 6d. per
dozen for prints from the negatives obtained. This
sum is calculated upon the average time expended at
the rate of his own trade earnings. I do not wish to
overstate this side of the question or to pretend that
he would not be open to a present from a grateful client.
Of how many of us could that be honestly said? But
my point is that his gifts have been as open to the poor
as to the rich — which all spiritual gifts should be.
It is, of course, another matter when he comes to
London and gives sittings by appointment at the British
[18]
THE CREWE CIRCLE
College of Psychic Science. That college is an ex-
pensive and most useful establishment, which is run,
with a yearly deficit, through the generosity of Mr.
and Mrs. Hewat McKenzie, and it is only right that
those who use it should contribute an adequate sum
to its maintenance.
To illustrate my remarks upon Hope’s character and
the general lines upon which the Crewe Circle is con-
ducted, I would like to give this extract from the letter
of a miner, Mr. East, of 36, New Street, Port Talbot,
who describes an experience which he had in 1920.
After giving an account of the precautions taken, and
of the appearance upon the plate of his son’s face :
[See Figure 11.]
“Hundreds of persons who knew him have seen
the photo and recognised him.” He adds : “When
I asked what their charges were, Mr. Hope replied :
‘Four and sixpence a dozen. For the sitting, noth-
ing. This is a gift from God and we dare not charge
for what is freely given us. Our pay is often the
wonder and joy depicted on the faces of those, like
yourselves, who have found that their loved ones
are not entirely lost to them. We get all kinds and
classes of people here. Some even are threadbare
and too poor to pay train- fare, but we treat them
all alike as we recognise in each a brother or sister.’
“I could not but be impressed by the Christ-spirit
of the two friends, whom we had never seen before
that short half-hour, and not since. And when I
read of men who try to make those two persons
appear something detestable I go back in memory
to that day when it was our good fortune to meet
them and recall their more than kind attitude to
two bruised hearts. God bless them, say I.”
[19]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
With these preliminary remarks I will now lay be-
fore the reader a selection of cases which I have taken
from Mr. Hope’s record, and I will ask him to read
them carefully and see if they can be reconciled with
any possible system of fraud. We are, of course,
always open to the objection that a man may be per-
fectly honest fifty times and fraudulent the fifty-first.
That is undeniable and constitutes the great difficulty
in dealing with isolated cases where no impartial wit-
ness was present, and where both the accusation and
the defence are equally ex-par te statements. We can
only say in rebuttal that previous honesty must pre-
dispose us to assume that there is no fraud, and re-
mind our readers that if we can only show one single
case, which is absolutely beyond criticism, then we have
for ever settled the larger contention, that it is possible
in the presence of certain individuals, whom we call
mediums, to produce effects which are super-normal
and which would appear to indicate separate intelli-
gences acting visibly quite independently of ourselves.
[20]
CHAPTER II
SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
I will first give an account of my own visit to Crewe
which was in the summer of 1919. I bought my plates
in Manchester and then travelled over to keep the
appointment which had been made a week before.
Arriving at Crewe, I went down to the little house in
Market Street, which is so modest and humble that it
furnishes an argument in itself against any undue
cupidity on the part of its tenant. Two spiritualistic
friends, Mr. Oaten, editor of the Two Worlds, and
Mr. Walker, were my companions.
Mr. Hope and Mrs. Buxton were waiting for us,
and, after a short religious service, Mr. Hope and I
went into the dark room. There I opened the packet
of plates, put two into the carrier and marked them
then and there. The carrier was then taken into the
room and Mr. Hope inserted it into the camera. We
three spiritualists sat in front with a rug, or blanket,
as a background. The exposure having been made,
the carrier was taken back into the dark room where,
with my own hands, I took out the plates, developed
them and fixed them. So far as I could judge, there
was at no stage any possibility of changing the plates.
But this question does not really arise. No changing
of plates would account for the effect actually pro-
duced. This effect I have shown in Figure 1. There
[21]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
is a hazy cloud covering us of what I will describe as
ectoplasm, though my critics are very welcome to call
it cotton- wool if it eases their feelings to do so. In
one corner appears a partial materialisation of what
seems to be the hair and forehead of a young man.
Across the plate is scraw led, 4 "Well done. Friend Doyle,
I welcome you to Crew e. Greetings to all. T. Colley."
I have already explained that Archdeacon Colley was
the founder of the Crewe Circle, and if, as we believe,
wTe continue our interest after death it would seem not
unnatural that he should send a kindly w ord to a visitor
who wras working for the cause. How can we deter-
mine that the message was really from Archdeacon
Colley? The obvious way would be to get a sample
of his wTriting in life and to compare it with that upon
the plate. This I have done, as showm in Figure 2. Can
anyone deny that the handwriting is the same in both
instances, or can anyone suppose that the rough script
of Hope could possibly be modified into the scholarly
handwriting of the Archdeacon? Whence, then, did
this message come? Does anyone imagine that a pri-
vate forger is retained by Hope and lurks somewhere in
that humble abode ? It is a problem which calls for an
answer, and no talk about conjuring tricks or trans-
position of plates has the least bearing upon it. It may
be remarked incidentally that my own strong desire
was to obtain some sign from my son who had passed
away the year before. The result seemed to show* that
our personal wishes do not effect the outcome.
Having failed to get what I desired, I remained at
Crewe for the night, and next morning wTent dowm to
Market Street again. On this occasion I used Hope’s
[22]
SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
own plates, having left mine at the hotel. He gave me
the choice of several packets. The result obtained
under all the precautions which I could adopt (it would
only weary the reader if I gave every point of detail)
was a photograph of the face of a young man beside
my own. It was not a good likeness of my son, though
it resembled him as he was some eight years before his
death. Of the three results which I obtained at Crewe
it was the one which impressed me least. On exam-
ination with a lens it was noticeable that the counte-
nance was pitted with fine dots, as in the case of process
printing. This is to be noticed in a certain proportion,
possibly one in ten, of Hope’s results, and occurs in the
case of persons whose faces could by no possibility
have appeared in newspapers. One can only suppose
that it is in some way connected with the psychic
process, and some have imagined a reticulated screen
upon which the image is built up. I am content to
note the fact without attempting to explain it. I have
observed the same effect in other psychic photographs.
The third result was the most remarkable of any.
I had read that Hope can get images without the use
of the camera, but the statement sounded incredible.
He now asked me to mark a plate and put it in a carrier,
which I did. We then placed our hands on either side
of the carrier, Mrs. Buxton and her sister joining in.
At the end of about a minute Hope gave a sort of
shudder, and intimated that he thought a result had
been obtained. On putting the plate into the solution
a disc the size of a shilling, perfectly black, sprang up
in the centre of it. On development this resolved itself
into a luminous circle with the face of a female deli-
[23]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
cately outlined within it. Under the chin is a disc of
white, and two fingers which are pointing to it. Th6
disc is evidently a brooch, and the pointing seemed to
indicate that it was meant to be evidential. The face
bore a strong resemblance to that of my elder sister,
who died some thirty years ago. Upon sending the
print to my other sisters they not only confirmed this,
but they reminded me that my sister had a very re-
markable ivory brooch in her lifetime and that it was
just the one object which might best have been chosen
as a test. I regret that this picture is so delicate that
it will not bear reproduction.
Such were my three results at Crewe, and I should,
I hold, have been devoid of reason had I not been deeply
impressed by them. Here was a message in Arch-
deacon Colley’s own handwriting. Here was a test
from my own dead sister which seemed to be beyond
all possible coincidence, apart from the extraordinary
way in which the picture was obtained. Neither sleight-
of-hand nor transference of plates could have any bear-
ing upon such results as those. Their full significance
was not realised until I had made enquiries, but after
that time I felt it impossible to doubt the super-normal
nature of the powers which had produced such effects.
It might perhaps be argued that as Archdeacon
Colley’s writing was familiar to Hope, he had, in spite
of his disabilities, made some special effort to master
and reproduce it. As a matter of fact, however, this
case does not stand alone, and many evidential writings
have been obtained at Crewe, notably those of W. T.
Stead and of the late Dr. Crawford. The latter is a
recent incident, and I would take it as my next example,
[24]
SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
since it illustrates this phenomenon of writing, and is
again free from the bogey of transposition.
Upon June 30 of this year (1922) three delegates
from Belfast, Mr. Skelton, Mr. Gillmour and Mr.
Donaldson, were coming over to the London Spirit-
ualists’ Conference. They broke their journey at
Crewe in order to have a sitting with Mr. Hope, who
was in deep distress at the time on account of the
attack made upon him in Mr. Price’s report. It is
worth noting that Mrs. Crawford, the widow of Dr.
Crawford, had come over with them on the boat, and
that Dr. Crawford’s affairs had been under discussion,
though Hope had no means of knowing it. Under
good fraud-proof conditions, on their own specially-
marked plate, the visitors obtained a message in Dr.
Crawford’s handwriting, which runs thus, I supply-
ing the punctuation:
“Dear Mr. Hope,
“Needless to say I am with you where psychic
work is concerned, and you can be sure of my sym-
pathy and help. I know all the difficulties and un-
certainties connected with the subject. I am keenly
interested in your circle and will co-operate with you.
Regarding your enemies who would by hook or by
crook dispose of the phenomena, leave them alone.
I, W. J. Crawford, of Belfast, am here in Crewe
on Friday, June 30th.
“W. J. Crawford.”
Each word is on its own little patch of ectoplasm,
or upon its own pad of cotton-wool, if the critics
prefer it, though it would puzzle them, I think, to re-
produce the effect which is given in Figure 3. The plate
[25]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
alongside (Figure 4) shows a reproduction of an actual
note of Crawford’s which will enable the reader to
judge the extreme similarity of the script. Once more
we confront the critic with this fact and ask him to
face the difficulty and to tell us whence this writing
came ; whether it is a production of Mr. Hope’s, or
whether the theory of a private forger upon the prem-
ises can be sustained.
Apart from these cases of the reproduction of hand-
writing, copies of documents have appeared upon the
plates at Crewe which could by no means have got there
in a normal fashion. A case in point is given in detail
by the Reverend and venerable Professor Henslow on
p. 217 of his Proofs of Spiritualism. In this case, the
truth of which is vouched for by the Professor, al-
though it did not actually occur to him, the plates were
held between the hands of the sitters in the manner
already described, but the packet had not been opened
and was as it had come from the chemist. When the
packet was opened and the plates developed there was
found impressed upon the fifth plate a number of
Greek characters, which proved to be a copy of four
lines of the Codex Alexandrinus , a rare Greek text
kept in a glass case in the British Museum. The in-
teresting point appears that the two documents are not
facsimiles, and that there is some slight difference in
the formation of the letters, thus meeting the objection
that the text photographed might have been got from
some facsimile of the original Codex. The photo-
graphs of the original Greek and of the Crewe repro-
duction are given in Professor Henslow’s work. Here,
again, we may well ask the critic to face the facts and
[26]
SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
to give us some feasible explanation as to how this
Greek text was precipitated on to a plate in a sealed
packet under the mediumship of an unlearned carpenter
at Crewe.
CHAPTER III
EVIDENTIAL TESTS AND THEIR RESULTS
We will now turn to the reproduction of faces, and
I will give an instance where all the stock theories about
changing or superposition of plates become untenable.
At the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of
Supernormal Pictures, I being present, a photograph
of the members was taken in the normal way as a
souvenir. As Hope was present, it was suggested
that a second photograph be taken by him in the hope
that we might get some psychic effect. The plate
was taken from an unopened packet in the pocket of
the secretary, and some fifteen of us were witnesses of
the whole transaction. Hope had no warning at all,
and could have made no preparation. The plate
was at once developed by one of our own members,
and a well-marked extra, amid a cloud of ectoplasm,
appeared upon the picture. This extra was claimed by
one of our members as a good likeness of his dead
father. This result, which is illustrated by Figure 5,
was obtained before an audience of experts, if any men
in this world have a right to call themselves experts
upon this subject. How can it be explained by fraud
and how can such a case be lightly set aside? Grant-
ing for argument’s sake that the sitter may have been
[28]
EVIDENTIAL TESTS AND THEIR RESULTS
mistaken in the recognition, how can the actual psychic
effect be accounted for?
It happens, occasionally, that these ghost-faces which
appear upon the plates retain some remarkable physical
peculiarity which prove beyond all question who they
represent. One such case has been handed to me by
the Countess of Malmesbury, whose own account is
so clear and condensed that it could not be bettered:
“I sat with Mr. Hope and Mrs. Buxton on Friday,
December 9th, 1921, and was accompanied by ‘Val
L’Estrange, ’ a lady professional photographer, who
watched the proceedings on my behalf, as I do not
understand photography. She states that from first
to last she could not detect any fraud. As I sat for
the photograph the wish just crossed my mind that
I might obtain a photograph of J. H., who died in
1880, and that I could receive a definite sign that it
was genuine.
“J. H. died as the result of an operation for the
removal of the lower jaw, which had been seriously
injured. No one saw him after this terrible mis-
fortune except five persons, of whom I am the only
survivor, and I need not say that no photograph was
then taken of him.
“I showed the photograph to Dr. Fielding Ould,
who at once recognised it as that of a man who had
had his lower jaw removed. This opinion was con-
firmed by several of his medical friends, to whom he
showed the picture.
‘‘I should add that the plates were bought by ‘Val
L’Estrange’ direct from the manufacturer, and that
we brought them with us. The exposure was forty
seconds. The plate which produced the portrait was
manipulated by Mr. Hope under the supervision of
‘Val L’Estrange.’ We both superintended the de-
velopment and fixing of the negative.
[29]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
“As an impartial investigator of psychic matters
I have stated exactly what took place, without
comment.
{signed) Susan, Countess of Malmesbury.”
It must be admitted that this case, so exactly re-
corded, would be a difficult one to explain away.
I would now quote the case furnished by Major
Spencer, who is an experienced and careful observer,
and has given much attention to psychic photography.
In this experiment he used his own camera, his own
carriers and his own plates. What could be more dras-
tic than that ! He says, if I may abbreviate his account :
“The box of plates was never out of my sight and
was cut open in the dark room by myself; Hope or
Mrs. Buxton in no instance touching them.”
The red light, he explains, was a good one and he
could see all that occurred.
“Hope stood on my left hand for the whole time
in the dark room and I kept the box of plates under
my right elbow during the operations of initialling
and inserting the plates in the slides. . . . My own
camera remained closed in my despatch-case (also
closed) till I returned from the dark room, when I
set it up on its tripod, extending it, and focussing it
upon the chair afterwards used. When the exposures
were made by Hope I had to explain to him how to
actuate the shutter, as the lever on the camera front
was new to him. The only contact with the camera
was when he touched this lever. Exposure thirty-
five seconds. Neither Mrs. Buxton nor Hope knew
that I had intended using my own camera and dark
slides till we met in the studio. These slides are
metallic and each contains one plate.”
[30]
Cironn of Members of the S.S.S.P. The nsvclhc fact >\ i 1 1 be seen in the centre of the
EVIDENTIAL TESTS AND THEIR RESULTS
(For the benefit of the uninitiated, let me explain
that the carrier and the dark slide are different names
for the same thing, the receptacle into which the plates
are put in the dark room, which is then inserted into
the back of the camera.)
Now this is a case which any reasonable man would
say eliminated every possible source of error. The
actual result was that out of six plates, two showed un-
recognised extra faces. One of the results is reproduced
in Figure 6. How came those faces upon the plates?
How can our critics explain it? They cannot explain
it, and yet they have not the honesty to admit their
inability. Among our chief enemies is that inner circle
which for the moment controls the destinies of the So-
ciety for Psychical Research. What flaw do they find ?
I am sure the honest common-sense reader would never
guess. The flaw adduced is that Major Spencer left
his camera inside his despatch-box in the studio while
he was in the dark room. Mrs. Buxton was in the
studio. She might have dashed at the box, pulled it
open, dragged out the camera, and then . . . well, what
then? No one can imagine what the next stage would
be. Dr. Abraham Wallace has publicly asked the critic
to state what could then be done which would have put
two human faces upon different plates and none on the
others. If Major Spencer had locked his box it would
then have been claimed that Mrs. Buxton had a skeleton
key in her pocket. It is puerile criticism of this sort
which has lowered that intellectual respect which we
older members had once for the S.P.R. It is intellectu-
ally dishonest and the sign of a frame of mind which is
[3i]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
not there to follow facts or to ascertain the truth, but
only to argue a preconceived case as a lawyer speaks
from his brief. The S.P.R. (or their present spokes-
men) are against psychic photography, and therefore
it is better to put up the most childish and preposterous
objections rather than to say that a case is clearly
proved. I would appeal to any impartial mind whether
this case of Major Spencer’s does not absolutely cover
every objection.
I would now give the case of the dream-hand of Lady
Grey of Falloden. When I was going to Australia
this lady most kindly wrote out the facts for me and
gave me a copy of the photograph, which I used upon
my screen. Lady Glenconner, as she then was, dreamed
that if she was photographed at Crewe she would see
her son’s hand resting upon her left shoulder. She
said nothing to Hope, but she put the fact of her dream
upon record. Sure enough, in the photograph there is
a small cloud of ectoplasm, and emerging from it a
hand, which is resting even as it rested in the dream.
Where does fraud come in, in such a case as that?
Surely those who circulated a libellous pamphlet against
Hope upon the strength of a single case must feel
ashamed when they consider such a result as that, where
no possible manipulation could have affected the picture.
Psychic caution is an admirable quality, but extreme
incredulity is even more disastrous than extreme cre-
dulity. The psychic investigator should be a filter, not
a block.
I would now quote the case of Mr. Pearse, a well-
known business man of Manchester. This is no psychic
fanatic, but a hard-headed Northern man of business.
L32]
EVIDENTIAL TESTS AND THEIR RESULTS
He visited Hope at Crewe, taking with him his own
new camera and his own carrier, which was loaded by
his daughter. No chance of transposition here, unless
Hope had a duplicate carrier.
“The result,” he says, “was an undisputed likeness
to my father. No photograph of him in that position
is in existence. Everyone who has known him has
recognised him, and my mother treasures the photo-
graph very much.”
In this account the sting lies in the statement that
no such photograph is in existence. Again and again —
it would not be too much to say that fifty instances could
be produced — this statement can be made. Is it not
incredible that people should be found who cannot see
that such a fact is evidential of supernormal action?
I have alluded to the fact that Sir William Crookes
received such a photograph at Crewe, and that it bore
a close resemblance to his deceased wife. I have not
been able to get any copy of this photograph, but it is
devoutly to be hoped that it, and Sir William’s invalu-
able psychic papers, are being duly cared for by his
executors and biographer, for they have there a precious
trust, and any tampering with it on account of their
individual opinions would entail upon them the censure
of generations yet unborn. In an interview in the
Christian Commonwealth (December 4th, 1918) the in-
terviewer, Miss Scatcherd, asked, “And may I say
how you went north with another friend and myself
and procured on your own marked plate, under your
own conditions, a likeness of your beloved wife, the late
Lady Crookes?” To which Sir William answered:
[33]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
“You may say that, since it is the truth. . . . You may
add that the picture obtained after her passing on is
unlike any of the many which I possess, but certainly
resembles my dear one in her last days of failing
health.” In a private letter, which I have seen, Sir Wil-
liam, writing on December 14, 1916, shortly after the
incident, says : “The photograph is easily recognised
by all to whom I have shown it. I find that it is very
similar in likeness to one I took about ten years ago,
although by no means a facsimile reproduction. This
makes it all the more satisfactory to me.”
Though I am unable to reproduce this photograph,
I have been able, by the kindness of Miss Scatcherd, to
reproduce (Figure 7) the preliminary experimental
photograph got in Sir William’s laboratory, which
induced him to take the Crewe Circle seriously. Only
Mr. Hope and Miss Scatcherd were present on this
occasion. It was taken, says the latter, “under the
strictest conditions that the genius of Sir William
Crookes, backed by his unusual common sense, could
suggest.” The face here is not that of Lady Crookes,
and was not recognised. But surely such a result must
show the public how superficial is the view which on
the strength of a single experiment endeavours to dis-
credit the whole life’s work of Mr. Hope.
Several examples of Crewe photographs are repro-
duced (Figures 8, 9, 10) which show the similarity
to the living man, and yet are declared by the rela-
tives to be unlike any existing picture. That which
is shown on Figure 8 is the result obtained by that
brave psychic pioneer, the Rev. Charles Tweedale, who
from his little Yorkshire vicarage beckons the Church
[34]
EVIDENTIAL TESTS AND THEIR RESULTS
on the road that it should go. In this case Mr. Twee-
dale called upon Hope without any appointment and
obtained, as has several times been obtained on sur-
prise visits, an excellent result. The psychic face is
that of his wife’s father, whose features in life, for
purposes of comparison, are shown by Figure 9. The
picture is unlike any in existence.
I have said that the psychic faces are sometimes more
animated and lifelike than the original photographs
taken in life. In support of this assertion I would point
to Figure 10. The old man who smiles so happily is
Mrs. Buxton’s own father, then very recently dead.
I do not think that the most cynical of my readers will
contend that a daughter is likely to make a blasphemous
faked picture of her own father, even if it had been
possible to produce so vital an effect.
Anyone who is familiar with Hope’s results is aware
that over many of the psychic faces there appears a roll
or arch of some peculiar substance which has never
been explained upon any supposition of fraud, but is
so constant that it would appear to be part of the psychic
process. Some of us have always contended that prob-
ably this arch represents a formation corresponding to
the Cabinet upon this side — an envelope or enclosed
space within which psychic forces are generated and
condensed. The arch is by no means peculiar to Hope,
though the exact form and texture of it is such that one
could pick out a Hope photograph among a hundred
others. This psychic arch, as it has been named, ap-
pears in many forms and many places, some of them
very unexpected. I have, as an example, a photograph
before me as I write which was taken by Mr. Boyd, the
[35]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
respected provost of a Scotch borough, upon a recent
journey which he made upon the West Coast of Africa.
On taking a small group of natives he found an extra
of a woman and child (negroes) upon his plate. This
extra figure is surrounded and surmounted by the
psychic arch in an exaggerated form. Mr. Boyd has
no axe to grind, and, so far as I know, he is not even
a spiritualist. How comes it, then, that his result fits
so definitely into the arch system, if it be not that there
is some general law which regulates results whether
they be obtained in Crewe or on the Gold Coast ?
Again, I have a friend, an amateur, who has himself
developed psychic photography from the time that it
was a mere luminous blur upon his plates, until now
he receives very graceful and perfect pictures which are
in some cases recognised faces of the dead. In his case
the arch adjusts itself into the form of an artistic hood
or mantilla. But the arch principle carries on. It is
only by a comprehensive view of this sort, and by the
comparison of different independent results, that we are
likely to get at some of the laws which underlie this
matter. At present the system adopted in quarters
which should be responsible ones is to concentrate atten-
tion upon whatever may seem to be failure or deception,
and to take no notice at all of the broader aspects of
the question. In every science the methods of advance
are to pay strict attention to the positive results and to
regard the negative ones as mere warnings of what to
avoid. This process has been reversed in considering
psychic photography, and the world has been deceived
by those who should have been its guides. Truth will,
of course, prevail, but its progress has been grievously
[36]
EVIDENTIAL TESTS AND THEIR RESULTS
retarded by this unhappy and unscientific mental
attitude.
On one occasion remarkable evidence was afforded
that we were right in our surmise that a cabinet of
ectoplasm for concentration is first constructed, and
that the psychic effect is developed inside it. The result,
which is depicted in Figure 12, was got by Mr. Jeffrey,
of Glasgow, who was, I may add, the President of the
Scottish Society of Magicians, and is therefore the last
person to be deceived by any sort of trick. In this case
the exposure seems to have been too early so that the
ectoplasmic bag is exposed in its complete form, with-
out any contents. In the second picture, Figure 13,
taken immediately afterwards, the face of Mr. Jeffrey’s
deceased wife has appeared, and the bag has split to
show it, forming the familiar fold over both sides of
the face. This picture seems to me to be quite final in
showing us exactly how the matter is worked by the
forces which direct things upon the other side.
Each of these cases which I have given is impressive,
I hope, in itself, but their cumulative effect should be
overpowering. They are but selections out of a very
long list which I could provide, but repetition would be
unprofitable, for if those which are here quoted fail to
convince the reader then he is surely beyond conviction.
One or two might conceivably be the result of imperfect
observation or incorrect statement, but it is an insult
to common sense to say that so long an array of honour-
able witnesses, with their precise detail, with their
actual photographic results, and with the complete ex-
clusion of any possible trickery, should all be explained
in any normal fashion.
[37]
CHAPTER IV
AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE AND HIS CRITICS
Having said so much in support of Mr. Hope’s me-
diumship, let me say what I can in the way of personal
criticism, for I hold no particular brief for him, and am
only anxious to follow truth wherever it may lead. I
have written this pamphlet because I think that truth
has been grievously obscured, and that the fruit of
seventeen years of remarkable psychic demonstration
is, for the moment, imperilled by the attention of the
public being directed entirely to a single case which is,
admittedly upon the face of it, of a damaging character.
We spiritualists should be, in Stevenson’s fine phrase,
“steel-true and blade-straight,” and we should never
avoid an issue, or fall into the error of our opponents
who have no sense of balance and can only focus their
gaze upon one side of a question.
It has been said that Hope is suspiciously restless and
fussy in the dark room. This, so far as my own obser-
vation goes, is correct. It may be that he is nervously
anxious for success, or it may be that he is not in a
normal condition — for he usually holds a service and
occasionally goes into apparent trance immediately be-
fore the experiment. Whatever the cause, I am not
prepared to deny the fact, or that not unreasonable
suspicions might be awakened by his attitude in the
minds of those who are brought for the first time in
[38]
AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE
contact with his personality. I can only point to the
cases already given, and say once more that no action
upon his part could have produced them.
Again, it is said of Hope that he is impatient of tests
and restrictions. Some of his best friends have been
alienated by this fact. Mediums are touchy people —
more delicately organised in many cases than any other
human type. They may occasionally show an irrational
annoyance and resentment against any action which im-
plies personal suspicion. And yet, though he certainly
prefers to be left to his own methods unrestrained save
by ordinary observation, it is a fact that he has in the
past consented to a great number of tests and has come
out of them remarkably well. I have heard him say,
“What have I to gain from tests ? I am put to a deal
of trouble, I do what I am asked to do, I get result, and
then I hear no more about it except that perhaps I have
convinced the person. Or perhaps, even if I have done
all he asks in his own way, he still says he is uncon-
vinced.” I can bear him out in this latter statement,
for I have knowledge of three separate sittings which
he had with a well-known London editor, where, under
the latter’s ever more stringent conditions, Hope got
results certainly twice, and, I think, thrice, and yet when
1 asked this editor to vouch for these results that I
might quote them in this pamphlet, in the interests of
truth and justice, I could get no reply to my letter.
This seems to indicate either that he was not yet satis-
fied, though his own conditions had been carried out,
or else that he had not the moral courage to help the
medium at the time when he needed testimony.
The incident shows that there is some truth in Hope’s
[39]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
contention that tests are often a waste of energy. At
the same time, it should be known that when the S.P.R.
made their recent attack, founded upon a single case,
Hope at once offered to give fresh sittings and to sub-
mit to the most drastic tests so long as those who were
in sympathy were also associated in the experiment.
For some reason the S.P.R. refused this, and it is a seri-
ous flaw in their position. None the less, we must make
the admission that, in general, Hope is not fond of tests.
But there is another and more serious admission
which I would make, although in doing so I may pos-
sibly be doing Hope an injustice. He is, in my opinion,
not only a spiritualist, but a fanatic, which is a danger-
ous thing in any line of thought. We are aware that
one must “test the spirits,” but I believe that Hope has
such childlike and blind faith in his guides that he
would obey their directions whatever they might be.
I recollect one case where a distinguished man of science
sent Hope a sealed packet, upon which the latter placed
it in a bucket of water, under the alleged prompting of
some spirit message. The natural result was to alienate
the scientific man from psychic photography for many
years. It is easy to say that this was simply a case of
vulgar fraud, but fraud would be done in some manner
which could be concealed and not in so drastic a manner
as that, and, as I have shown, fraud does not at all fit
in with Hope’s usual results. I make the critic a pres-
ent of the case, merely adding that I believe Hope's
account of his motives to be absolutely true, however
incomprehensible it might seem.
I have now, I hope, convinced any reasonable reader
of the genuine nature of Hope's powers, which, after
[40]
AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE
all, wonderful as they may seem, are by no means
unique, but are to be matched by those of several con-
temporaries both in England and in America — not all
of them professionals.
We will next turn to the particular case treated in
the report of the S.P.R. drawn up by Mr. Price, and
afterwards published in a sixpenny form and widely
distributed gratis with the evident intention of ruining
Hope. Apart from its truth or falseness, the pamphlet
is in deplorable taste, with puns upon Hope’s name, and
tags of Johnson and Dry den dotted over it. So grave
a subject should be treated with dignity even when
severity is necessary. I will now state the case as
clearly as I can, together with some remarkable side-
lights which have appeared since the publication.
Having determined to catch Hope out, Mr. Price,
who has considerable knowledge both of conjuring and
of photography, procured from the Imperial Dry Plate
Company eight plates, all of which had been cut from
the same sheet of glass. Six of these plates were made
up into a single packet, and all were treated by X-rays,
so that while there was no outward sign that they had
been marked there would, according to the testimony
of the Company, appear upon them when they were
developed a design of the Company’s trademark.
Carrying with him this doctored packet, and accom-
panied by a friend, Mr. Seymour, also a conjurer, Mr.
Price kept an appointment which Mr. Hope had given
him at the British College of Psychic Science, London,
on February 24th, 1922. The mediums were quite un-
suspicious of any trap, nor did they hear anything of
the matter till four months later.
[41]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Mr. Price says: “I made myself very pleasant, said
how sorry I was that they had been ill with influenza,
and asked after the Crewe Circle, saying that my people
were natives of Shropshire.” A private detective must,
of course, use deception, but when Mr. Price at a later
stage proceeded to ask that “Onward, Christian sol-
diers !” be the hymn sung, and suggesting that the extra
finally shown was that of his own mother, he really does
seem to be wallowing in it to an unnecessary degree.
After all, the matter was one of business; he had paid
for his sitting, he would surely get it, and no elaborate
deception was needed.
After the usual ceremonies Mr. Price and Mr. Hope
went into the dark room, where the package was opened
and the two top plates put into the carrier. Hope then
took up the carrier, asking Price to wrap up the remain-
ing plates, and it was at this moment that Price “saw
him . . . put the dark slide to his left breast-pocket,
and take it out again (another one?) without any ‘talk-
ing’ or knocking.” I copy this sentence as printed, and
it is curious to find the S.P.R., which is continually
claiming from others the utmost exactness of statement,
passing one which is so involved and unintelligible.
However, it is certain that Mr. Price means that Hope
at that moment changed the carriers, though he does not
even tell us where the second carrier went to. Mr. Price
had endeavoured to mark with some pricking instru-
ment of his thumb the original carrier, but carriers are
often of very hard wood, and he could not, one would
think, have verified such a result, therefore the fact
that no marks of pricks were found upon the carrier
cannot be regarded very seriously. It is an instructive
[42]
AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE
fact that the S.P.R receives all these very loose tests
without question or comment, while when the evidence
is the other way, as in the case of Major Spencer, they
are ready with the most extraordinary explanations
ra,ther than admit a positive result.
The couple then emerged from the dark room — I am
omitting unessential and wearying details — and the
photographs were duly taken with no exact record of
the time of exposure, though Mr. Price roughly placed
it at from eighteen to^nineteen seconds. The point was
really of great, and might have been, of vital im-
portance. When the plates were developed one waS
normal of Price alone, and the other had a female extra
looking over Price’s shoulder. This female face has
the psychic arch and bears every sign to my eye, and to
that of every spiritualist whom I have heard discuss it,
of being true to type and a real Hope extra.
Mr. Price complimented the medium upon his suc-
cess, carried off the plates, and then set himself to dic-
tate an article which was duly printed in the “Proceed-
ings” of the S.P.R. to show that the whole business was
a swindle, that the plates had been changed, and that
the extra had been on a plate which Hope had foisted
upon Price by the device of changing the carriers in
the dark room.
The points upon which Price relied in his charge may
be taken in their order. They were :
i. That on the plate with the extra the X-ray
marks of the Imperial Company were not present.
Experiments were at once undertaken by several in-
vestigators, including Dr. Cushman, of Washington,
[43]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
and Mr. Hewat McKenzie. They showed that with
long exposures, such as Hope gave, the X-ray marks
vanish, so that this test, as was admitted by the Imperial
Company, ceases to be valid.
2. That he made marks upon the carrier, which
were not found upon the carrier actually used.
These marks seem to have been mere pricks, and
there is no independent evidence as to their existence.
3. That he saw Hope make a suspicious gesture in
the dark room. *
This would be more convincing if any indication
could be given as to what became of the discarded car-
rier. In cross-examination Mr. Price weakened on
the point.
4. That the glass of which the plates were made
and on which the photos appeared, was different in
colour and thickness from the glass of the Imperial
plates brought by Mr. Price for the experiment.
This statement holds good. The plates have been
examined and compared, and those who desired to
guard the interests of Mr. Hope (or rather of truth)
agreed that this contention was right, and that there
had actually been a substitution of plates at some time
by somebody. There we are all on common ground.
How then, and why, were the plates changed?
Many who were convinced by experience of Hope’s
powers and of his essential honesty, and who were
aware of the bitter antagonism which exists against
him, as against all psychic phenomena, in certain circles
of conjurers and of sceptical researchers, and of indis-
creet expressions before the experiment, were of opin-
[44]
AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE
on that the whole transaction was an organised con-
spiracy to discredit the medium. The packet of plates
lad been for several weeks before the experiment in
he possession of the officials of the S.P.R., and was
iccessible to clever-fingered people who were hostile
o Hope’s claims, and who had frequently averred that
he opening of sealed packets was an easy process,
rhere were other arguments which I will not state lest
’ should seem to be endorsing them. Let me say, at
>nce, that I believe Messrs. Dingwall, Price and Sey-
nour to be honourable gentlemen, however much I
liffer from their point of view, and that I will not
idvance any hypothesis which is not consistent with
hat position.*
At the same time, I would point out that all their
lifficulties, which have increased with fuller knowledge,
ire due to their own tortuous and indirect way of ap-
>roaching the question. Suppose that instead of all
his juggling of X-ray marks Mr. Price had simply
nitialled his plate the moment he took it from the packet
is I and many other experimenters have done, surely if
le had afterwards received an extra upon that initialled
>late the test would have been complete, so far as sub-
titution is concerned. If he had not done so, I am sure
hat Hope would have given him a second appointment,
ind he could have gone on until he had either succeeded
>r until he had proved that with an initialled plate Hope
vas helpless. Had this been done much trouble would
lave been saved, and the result been equally clear.
*1 let these words stand as written, but further information,
vhich only came later to my knowledge, has, as the text will
how, caused me to take a less entirely charitable view. — A.C.D.
[45]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Or, again, when he was, as he says, morally sure
that Hope had changed the carrier, suppose that instead
of complimenting Hope upon results and suggesting
that the image was that of his mother, he had said,
“You will excuse me, Mr. Hope, but I must really ex-
amine you and your dark room, for I think I can find a
marked carrier which you have concealed while you
substituted your own.” A refusal from Hope would
have really been a confession. But, all through, a tor-
tuous course was preferred.
I have nothing against Mr. Price’s honour, but a very
great deal against his methods, winding up with his
sixpenny attack upon Hope, when the matter, as events
have proved, was very far from being settled.
This pamphlet would certainly convey to the public
the idea that Mr. Price looked upon psychic photog-
raphy in general as the greatest humbug in the world,
whereas since then he has signed a document which ends
with the words:
“We are convinced that the test with Hope on
February 24th does not rule out the possibility that
Hope has produced supernormal pictures, or that
he is able to produce 'extras’ by other than normal
means.”
Had he been wise enough to adopt this humbler tone
in the first instance we could all discuss the question
now in a more placid frame of mind.
But irritability must not make us unjust, and we have
to face the question how came the plates to be changed ?
The only honest answer is that we do not know, but
that the evidence taken on its face value at this stage
was against Hope, in spite of his long record of honesty.
[46]
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AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE
Mr. Barlow has put forward the plea that Hope was
in an abnormal mental condition at such times, and was
to that extent irresponsible. I fear I cannot accept this,
for such substitution must be thought out beforehand,
an image must be prepared, and the whole transaction
is not an act of impulse but a deliberate plan.
There has, however, been a most singular sequel to
the case which causes an extraordinary complication,
and when closely examined seems to me to turn Hope
from the defendant into the accuser. The S.P.R. claims
that after this experiment one of the two marked plates
had been returned to them, but in so secret a fashion
that it could not be explained who had brought it or how
it had been obtained. This was apparently a point
against Hope, the charge inferred, though not stated,
being that he had left this plate about, after abstracting
it from the carrier, and that some enemy had recognised
it and brought it to clinch the case against him. So
secret were the proceedings of the Society that though
I am one of the oldest members of that body I was
refused leave to see this mysterious plate. Eventually,
however, some of our people did see it, and then an
extraordinary state of things revealed itself. First of
all the plate was undoubtedly one of the original set
supplied by the Imperial Dry Plate Company. Sec-
ondly, it was a virgin unexposed plate, so that it is im-
possible that anyone at Hope’s end could have picked
it out from any other plates, since the marks were
invisible. Third, and most wonderful, it actually, on
being developed, had an image upon it, which may or
may not have been a psychic extra. This plate was sent
on March 3rd, a week after the experiment and three
[47]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
(lays after Hope and Mrs. Buxton* who knew nothing
yet of Price's trap, had returned home to Crewe. It
was in a double wrapper* with a request upon the inside
cover that it be developed The wrapper was formed
of Psychic College literature, and it bore the Netting
Hi! postmark.
Now consider the situation thus created Since the
plate had not been developed it is clear that neither Hope
nor anyone at the College could possibly have known
that it was a marked plate* for there was no publication
of the alleged exposure until more than four months
after. Who was there in the whole world who did
know that this was a marked plate and one in which the
S.P.R. might be expected to take a special interest?
Clearly the experimenters of the S.P.R. and their con-
fidants— no one else. But if the marked plate had been
abstracted by Hope in the dark room and mixed up
there with other platesy how could any friend or emis-
sary of the S.P.R. have picked it out as being the plate
that was marked ? It could not have been done. There-
fore the conclusion seems to be irresistible that this
plate was abstracted from the packet before the experi-
ment by someone who knew exactly what it was. If
this be so* Hope is the victim of a conspiracy and he is
a much ill-used man. I see no possible alternative to
this conclusion.
Let us see if we can bmld up any sort of theory
which would cover a! the known facts. Any such
theory is bound to be improbable* btrt the improbable
is better than the impossible* and it is quite impossible
that Hope could have known that a plate was secretly
marked when it had not been exposed or developed.
[48]
AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE
We have to remember that the knot of conspirators
(some consciously so, and some not) are in close touch
with a group of conjurers. These gentlemen have an-
nounced that there is no packet which cannot be opened
and no seal which cannot be tampered with undetected.
For twenty-four days after Mr. Price takes his packet
of marked plates to the headquarters of the S.P.R. it
was locked up not in a safe but in an ordinary drawer,
which may or may not have been locked, but could pre-
sumably be easily opened. My belief is that during that
long period the packet was actually opened and the top
plates taken out. Upon one of these top plates a faked
photograph was thrown from one of those small pro-
jectors whiqh produce just such an effect as is shown
on the returned plate. The idea may have been that
Hope would claim this effect as his own and that he
would then be confounded by the announcement that
it was there all the time. That was the first stage. The
second stage was that either the original conspirator
relented or someone else who was in his confidence
thought it was too bad, so the packet was again tam-
pered with, the marked and faked plate taken out and
a plain one substituted. The packet was then taken to
Hope as described. Mr. Hope then got a perfectly
honest psychic effect upon the unmarked plate. Mean-
while the abstracter, whoever he may have been, had
the original faked plate in his possession, and out of a
spirit of pure mischief — for I can imagine no other
reason — he wrapped it in a sheet of the College syllabus,
which can easily be obtained, and returned it to the
S.P.R., to whom it originally belonged. Wherever it
came from it is clear that it did not come from the
[49]
THE CASE TOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
College, for when a man does a thing secretly and
anonymously he does not enclose literature which will
lead to his detection.
It is possible that this thing may originally have been
conceived as a sort of practical joke upon Hope and
upon spiritualists generally, but that some who were
not in the joke have pushed the matter further than was
originally intended. Whom can we blame? I am in
the position of never having personally met any of the
three protagonists. Price, Dingwall or Seymour, so that
my view of them is impartial. Mr. Price is popular
among the spiritualists who know him, and all agree
that he would be unlikely to lend himself to any decep-
tion. Mr. Dingwall was possessed by an extreme
prejudice against Mr. Hope, and yet I cannot conceive
him as gratifying that prejudice by such a trick. He
cannot, however, be acquitted of having aided and
abetted in issuing the libellous pamphlet against Hope
before all the facts were known, and before Hope’s
friends could examine any of them. It was an un-
worthy thing to do, and Messrs. Price and Dingwall
must share the responsibility. It is a curious fact which
should be recorded that, although the experiment was
on February 24th, and though the report of the alleged
exposure was not issued till the end of May, we find
Mr. Dingwall applying for a sitting with Hope early
in May, and writing, when Hope refused to give him
one : “As I understand from your letters that you still
refuse to have sittings with the only scientific body in
Great Britain investigating this subject, I shall be
obliged in my coming report on psychic photography
to publish certain facts which mav not be of advantage
[50]
AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE
to yourself.” That letter was on May 2nd. Appar-
ently, therefore, the publication of the “exposure” de-
pended upon whether Mr. Dingwall was piqued or was
humoured. If he were sure that the exposure was a
genuine one this is a very singular attitude to assume.
There remains Mr. James Seymour, the amateur
conjurer, who has been concerned in several so-called
exposures. It would be unjust to assert that it was he
who carried out this deception, for when a packet is
left for twenty- four days in a drawer many people may
have had access to it, and none of the three experi-
menters may have known the facts. This, I think, is
very probable. At the same time, as Mr. Seymour has
been very searching in his inquiries about mediums, he
will not take it amiss if I ask him what he meant when
in his evidence (“Cold Light,” etc., p. 7) he says:
“They” (i.e., Hope and Mrs. Buxton) “were thor-
oughly taken in by the packet and were not suspicious
of it.” How could they possibly be suspicious of a
packet which had never been opened? On the other
hand, if the speaker knew that the packet had been
tampered with, it would be a most natural remark to
make. The words may be innocent, but they demand a
clear explanation, and so does the fact that an extra
was found upon a marked plate which obviously had
never been in Hope’s dark room at all.
So secretive and tortuous have been the methods
of the agents of the S.P.R that each fresh piece of
evidence has to be wrung from them, and they seem
to have no conception of the fact that a man who is
accused has a right to know all the facts concerning the
accusation. Even now, nine months after the event,
[5i]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
constant pressure has to be put upon them in order to
get at the truth. Only at this last moment has a new
and strange fact been admitted. It is that when the
mysterious marked plate was returned it was not alone,
but that three other plates, not belonging to the marked
series, were with it, each of them adorned with psychic
photographs. These photographs in no way resembled
the results of Hope or of Mrs. Deane, nor were they
like the one upon the marked plate. I should be inter-
ested to know whether Mr. Marriott was ever in the
counsels of the conspirators, for there is something in
this incident which rather recalls that gentlemen’s pow-
ers and also his somewhat impish sense of humour.
Even now — I write nearly nine months after the
original investigation — we have no assurance that this
secret of the S.P.R. has been fully divulged or that they
have been frank with the public. It is possible that
they have received other anonymous communications
which bear upon the case. The first one was within a
week of the investigation, and if divulged at the time
it might have been possible to find the source. After
such a lapse of time it is far more difficult. As I have
shown, these new facts place the Society in a very in-
vidious position and that may be the cause of their
hesitations and concealments, but they have to remem-
ber that they have made a wanton attack upon a man’s
honour, and that their own amour propre is a small
thing compared to the admission of the injustice they
have done. They should now come forward honestly,
admit the blunders they have committed, apologise to
Hope, and remove any slur which they have cast
upon one of the most important and consistent psychic
[52]
AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE
manifestations ever known in the history of the move-
ment. In all attempted explanations let them bear in
mind the central fact that no one but themselves and
their associates knew that there was a marked plate in
existence until several months after the experiment and
after one had been returned to them.
Among those who examined the evidence at that
time available was Dr. Allerton Cushman, for whose
independence of mind and strong common sense I have
a great respect. Having signed the document in which
he admitted that there had been substitution of plates,
he added the following impressive note:
“My signature appended to the above statement
sets forth that investigation of all the facts available
up to date shows that the plate containing the psychic
extra in the Price test sitting with Hope did not
match up with the other plates marked by the Im-
perial Dry Plate Company. The only possible infer-
ence is that the plate in question was substituted by
someone at some time either deliberately or acci-
dentally. I do not commit myself as to the author-
ship of the substitution. After careful experimenta-
tion I do not consider the system of X-ray marking
adopted by Mr. Price to be infallible, but quite the
reverse, as the markings quite disappear on long ex-
posures and over-development. I am also unim-
pressed and unconvinced by Mr. Price’s method of
marking the plate-holder. I have had in all five
sittings with Hope and four with Mrs. Deane. Of
these nine sittings, seven were conducted under test
conditions in which Dr. H. Carrington and other wit-
nesses participated. I have obtained psychic extras
from both mediums on plates marked by X-ray by
the Imperial Dry Plate Company, and boxed and
sealed by them, and also on plates purchased by Dr.
[53]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Carrington just previous to one of the Hope sittings,
all of which were marked by ns with every precau-
tion. I am convinced that there was no substitution
possible in at least five ©f the seven test sittings. I
consider that the mediums possess genuine psychic
power, and are capable ©f obtaining marvellous,
genuine results. . . . The more I investigate the
subject the more convinced I am that the marvellous
evidential case of spirit photography obtained by me
through Mis. Deane in July, 1921, was genuine and
true.
*' Yours faithfully,
“Auhttok F. Cushman.”
CHAPTER V
FURTHER DIFFICULTIES CONSIDERED
It might well be urged, “Why should Hope go into the
dark room at all? Why should he not allow the sitter
to charge his carrier by himself and so remove all possi-
bility of transposition ?” It is natural that Hope should
show the stranger where the various conveniences of
the dark room are, but apart from this there is the rea-
son that Hope in the course of his career has had all
sorts of tricks played upon him by dishonest investi-
gators, and that he has to protect himself, so far as he
can, against doctored plates or plates with extras already
prepared which will be ascribed to him and made the
ground for charges. I have heard him tell such in-
stances. When he knows his sitter he has no objection
at all to leaving him alone in the dark room.
In 1919 the Society which I have already referred to
as the S.S.S.P. presented Hope with a new camera. Mr.
Barlow, Mr. Pearse and Mr. Walker — all experienced
photographers — were the three delegates who conveyed
it to Crewe. On this occasion photographs were taken
with the new carriers and camera, Mr. Barlow loading
the carrier with his own plate alone in the dark room.
I*n developing, all three delegates went into the dark
room, but Hope did not accompany them. Three out
of four slides showed no supernormal result, but the
iorth showed three faces, one clearly recognised.
[551
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
“We were carefully watching Mr. Hope all the time and
are absolutely sure that there was no trickery.’ * The
document, which contains a detailed account of these
facts, is signed by all three observers. Could any case
be more satisfactory and more final?
I have said that professional photographers were
among the sitters. I would instance as a good example
Mr. A. R. Gibson, of Nottingham, who testifies that
he took every possible precaution against deceit, and
that none the less he received an excellent likeness of his
dead son which does not correspond to any existing
photograph and is recognised by all who knew the lad.
There is one final case to which I would particularly
desire to draw attention because it is exactly parallel to
that of Mr. Price, but had a diametrically opposite re-
sult. The inquirer, too, has the advantage of being
absolutely impartial, which cannot be said of the two
conjurers nor of Mr. Dingwall, who was behind them
— and even with every intention to be honest, a strong
bias can distort the results. The case to which I refer
is that of Mrs. St. Clair Stobart, of 7, Turners Wood,
Hampstead Garden Suburb, who sat to Mr. Hope in
March, 1921. Before the sitting Mrs. Stobart’s plates
were marked with a secret mark, which she herself did
not know, by the Kodak Company. The result is told
in full in Psychic Science for October of this year.
Briefly, after every conceivable precaution by Mrs. Sto-
bart and her husband, two extras were got in four at-
tempts, one a head only and the other a full-length
figure of a woman, clothed in the usual filmy drapery.
“Mr. Hope never handled the plates at all.” Mrs. Sto-
bart concludes: “I took the negatives to the Kodak
[56]
FURTHER DIFFICULTIES CONSIDERED
Company — to the manager and chief assistant. ‘Are
these the plates you marked ? Can you see the marks ?’
I asked. ‘Oh yes/ they replied. ‘Look, here they are —
a tiny circle enclosing a cross.’ And for the first time I
saw the marks which they had put. The Kodak Com-
pany allow me to say that their affirmation as to this
can be used freely.”
Now surely this is very important. There seems no
loophole for error, and it entirely reverses the results
of the S.P.R. Why should more credit be given to one
than the other? Of the two, Mrs. Stobart’s is undoubt-
edly the more scientific, for we have no story of plates
being left about for twenty- four days before an experi-
ment, and, as I have pointed out, there is no possible
bias. Taken with all the other examples which I have
given, and with those given later by Mr. Barlow, I
claim that no reasonable man can doubt that Hope’s
hands are clean. It is the S.P.R. clique with their tor-
tuous methods, and with their mystery plate unex-
plained, who can most reasonably be accused of a want
of frank, straightforward dealing. It is sad to think
that a society which has done good work in the past,
and which has been made famous by the labours of
great spiritualists like Myers and Hodgson, Barrett and
Crookes, should be mixed up at all with so ugly a busi-
ness handled in so questionable a way.
Before bringing to an end this short sketch of the
work of the Crewe Circle, I would beg the reader to
consider the positive cases which I have laid before
him and to remember that in order to establish the in-
tervention of external, intelligent forces — which is our
SK)le and only aim — we have only to make one case good.
[57]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
One positive case outweighs all the negative ones which
the industry of the most energetic “exposer” could col-
lect. Our enemies take the perverse course of dwelling
entirely upon negative results, a line of reasoning which
would have killed any science in the wrorld. They know,
as a matter of fact, very little about the subject, for
starting, as they do, with the presumption that it is a
palpable fraud, they do not devote to it the time and
the close study which it calls for.
There is only one body in this country which can
claim any authority, and that is the S.S.S.P., or Society
for the Study of Supernormal Pictures, of which Dr.
Abraham Wallace is President, while I share with Mr.
Mitchell and Mr. Blackwell the honour of being vice-
president. We number among our members Miss
Scatcherd, whose experience is probably unique, Mr.
Coates, who has written two excellent books upon the
subject, Colonel Baddeley, Major Spencer, whose ex-
periments have extended over many years, Colonel
Johnson, a pioneer investigator, professional and ex-
pert photographers, and others of all shades of opinions,
save that all, so far as I know, are convinced by actual
experience of the reality of the phenomenon. Of its
methods and curious, almost inconceivable and most
freakish manifestations we have collected a mass of
material and have even cleared a few permanent path-
ways among the jungle.
It is to this society, and not to the S.P.R. as at present
conducted, that the world may look for accurate infor-
mation upon this subject. It wTould not be reasonable
for me to go at any length here into the results obtained.
I would only say that so far as my own conclusions go,
[58]
FURTHER DIFFICULTIES CONSIDERED
basing my studies upon the photographers of the past
as well as the present, I think that the evidence is strong
that there is on the other side an intelligent control for
each photographic medium, whose powers are great
but by no means unlimited and who endeavours to give
us convincing results each in his own characteristic
way. These results are sometimes obtained by actual
materialisations, sometimes by precipitations of pictures
apart from exposure, sometimes, as I believe, by the
superposition of screens which have the psychic face
already upon them, and which give marks as of a double
exposure. Among the powers of the control is to build
up a simulacrum which may be the image of someone
who is still alive, or he may produce upon the plate fac-
similes of pictures and portraits which do at present
exist, but which are entirely beyond the normal reach
of the medium. All these and other equally strange
points I could illustrate by many examples, but their
mere recital will show how many snares lie before the
explorer, and how many things might seem to be fraud-
ulent when they are really the doing not of the medium
but of the control.
Any further expansion of this fascinating subject
would be out of place on my part, since I am by no
means one of the authorities, and can only claim that
I study and assimilate the results of others, to which,
of course, I add my own personal experience. I have,
however, asked Mr. Barlow, the Honorary Secretary
of this Society, whose experience is so extensive as to
be almost unrivalled, to add a short essay upon the sub-
ject, with an account of some of the cases which bear
upon the matter.
[59]
CHAPTER VI
THE ATTACK ON MRS. DEANE AND MR. VEARNCOMBE
I took up my pen for the purpose of considering the
case of the Crewe Circle and urging the folly of dis-
carding the work of seventeen years on the score of a
single case. I cannot, however, end my task without
saying a few words as to the attack upon Mrs. Deane
and Mr. Vearncombe, two other photographic medi-
ums. This attack hardly deserves attention as it was
anonymous, but it was brought out under the auspices
of the Magic Circle, a society of conjurers who have
been interesting themselves in matters psychic. As
the two attacks were issued almost simultaneously they
seem to have had some common inspiration, and to
have formed a general assault upon the whole position
of psychic photography. The same individual, Mr.
Seymour, the amateur conjurer, actually took part, I
understand, in both transactions.
Mrs. Deane, the person attacked, is a somewhat pa-
thetic and forlorn figure among all these clever trick-
sters. She is a little, elderly charwoman, a humble
white mouse of a person, with her sad face, her frayed
gloves, and her little handbag which excites the worst
suspicions in the minds of her critics. Her powers
were discovered in the first instance quite by chance.
When she first pursued the subject her circumstances
were such that her only dark room was under the
[60]
MRS. DEANE AND MR. VEARNCOMBE
kitchen table with clothes pinned round it. None the
less, she produced some remarkable pictures under these
conditions, one of which fell into my hands, and I at
once concluded that she had real powers. The portrait
was of a young man in life, with a female spirit face
behind him. This might well have been faked. Some-
thing seemed to be emerging from the young man's
head, however, and on observing this object with a lens
I distinguished that it was a small but correct repre-
sentation of the Assyrian fish-god, Dagon, wearing the
peculiar hat with which that deity is always associated.
This was so entirely the kind of freakish result which I
expect from spirit photography, and was so removed
from the normal powers of a charwoman, that I pro-
visionally accepted her in my mind as a true medium,
a position from which I have never been compelled to
budge. I still retain this photograph, but the little head
is too small for satisfactory reproduction.
Mrs. Deane (or Mrs. Deane’s control) has one em-
barrassing habit which I believe to be unnecessary, and
which makes it very difficult to convince the sceptic, or,
'indeed, to prevent him from writing her down as an
obvious fraud. Far from insisting that you bring your
own plates, as Hope does, she likes them to be sent to
her in advance, and she does what she calls “magne-
tising” them, by keeping them near her for some days.
This is so suspicious that it can hardly be defended, but
here, again, there is an element of fanatical obedience.
My own personal belief is that her results are perfectly
honest, that they are actually formed in the shape of
psychographs during the days before the sitting, and
that if her plates were examined before they were ex-
[61]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
posed to light, the pictures would be found already on
them. This, of course, would very naturally be taken
as clear proof of fraud by the superficial investigator,
ignorant of the strange possibilities of psychic photog-
raphy, but I believe myself that the psychic effect is a
perfectly genuine one, but that the extra will very prob-
ably bear no relevancy to the sitter. I am speaking now
of her general routine, for how can I guarantee every
particular case or judge what a medium may do when
dealing with so evanescent and elusive a thing as psychic
power? When they have it they use it — when it fails
them the human element may come in.
I have had one sitting with Mrs. Deane in which six
plates were exposed. In four of them there were ab-
normal results. One of these was a female face smil-
ing from an ectoplasmic cloud. What does Mrs. Deane
know of ectoplasmic clouds ? One such is visible in the
specimen of her work which is shown in Figure 30.
Exactly similar are some of the clouds which appear in
Hope’s work. Such appearances do not aid deception.
Why, then, should they appear if it is not that it is
part of a psychic process ?
Mrs. Deane gave me the choice of two packets of
plates upon this occasion, and I admit that the effects
may very well have been on the plates before the ex-
posure. None the less, they were probably quite genu-
ine as supernormal pictures. Such a statement may
raise a smile from Mr. MacCabe or from Mr. Pater-
noster in Truth, but I have the advantage over them
in the fact that I have had practical experience of the
matter at issue.
But I am bound to give my reasons for such a state-
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MRS. DEANE AND MR. VEARNCOMBE
ment, or I might well be branded as credulous. My rea-
sons are that I am convinced that this magnetising proc-
ess is perfectly unnecessary and Mrs. Deane, within my
knowledge, obtains her best results when there has been
no possibility of knowing who her sitter will be. The
very finest result which I know of in psychic photog-
raphy was that obtained by Dr. Cushman with Mrs.
Deane. Dr. Cushman, a distinguished scientific man
of America, had suffered the loss of his daughter Agnes
some months before. He went to the Psychic College
without an appointment or an introduction. When he
arrived he found Mrs. Deane in the act of leaving. He
persuaded her to give a sitting, and then and there he
obtained a photograph of his “dead” daughter which is,
he declares, unlike any existing one, and is more vital
and characteristic than any taken in life. When I was
in the States I showed this picture on the screen as in
Figure 14, and there was abundant testimony from
those who knew Agnes that it was a life-like picture.
I would refer this case to the anonymous writers of
the Magic Circle, who has done all they could to worry
this poor woman and to destroy her powers, and I would
ask them how that little bag of tricks which exists only
in their own imagination could have affected such a re-
sult as that. It will be noted in the already quoted opin-
ion of Dr. Cushman that since this scandal Mrs. Deane
has been severely tested by him and others, and that they
have been able under the Doctor’s own conditions to
get psychic results.
Another excellent case of Mrs. Deane’s power is that
which forms the subject of Figure 30. The extra in the
ectoplasmic cloud is Mr. Barlow, senior, the father of
[63]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
the Secretary of the S.S.S.P. Beside him is a picture
of how he looked twelve years before his death. No
one can deny that it is the same man with the years
added on. Mrs. Deane never knew Mr. Barlow’s father
in life. How, then, was this result obtained? These
are the cases which the Magic Circle report avoids,
while it talks much of any negative results which it can
collect or imagine. I hope that this short account may
do something towards helping a woman whom I be-
lieve to be a true psychic, and who has suffered severely
for the faith that is in her, having actually, I under-
stand, endured the excommunication of her church be-
cause she has used the powers which God has given
her. I have a recollection that Joan of Arc endured
the same fate for the reason “le plus il change , le plus
il reste le meme”
It only remains for me now, before giving place to
others, to say a word about Mr. Vearncombe, the
psychic photographer of Bridgwater. Mr. Vearncombe
was a normal, professional photographer, but he found,
as Mumler did, that inexplicable extras intruded upon
and Spoilt both his plates and his business. He then
began to study this new power, which he seemed to pos-
sess, and to develop it for commercial use. Mrs. Hum-
phreys, a member of the S.S.S.P. and a student of
psychic affairs, lived in the same town and submitted
him to certain tests which convinced her and others of
his bona fides, though I cannot repeat too often that no
blank cheque of honesty can ever be given to any man.
My own experience of Mr. Vearncombe and my
knowledge of his work are far less than in the cases of
Mr. Hope and Mrs. Deane, so that I can only say that
[64]
MRS. DEANE AND MR. VEARNCOMBE
I believe he produces genuine results, whereas in the
other two cases I can say that I know they produce genu-
ine results.
I have had two experiments with Vearncombe, but
did not impose any test conditions in either case. I
simply sent a closed envelope containing a letter and
asked him to photograph it in the hope that some extra
might appear which I could associate with the sender
of the letter. In both cases a large number, six or
seven, well-marked faces developed round the letter,
but none which bore any message to me. Others, how-
ever, have been more fortunate in their experience and
have assured me that they have received true pictures
of the dead in that fashion. There is no ectoplasmic
cloud or psychic arch, but the faces are as clear-cut as
if they were stamped with a die.
I am in some degree responsible for Vearncombe’s
troubles, as I mentioned his name as being one who
might repay investigation upon the occasion when I
gave evidence before a committee *of these conjuring
gentlemen. They seem to have made up a sealed packet
to Mr. Vearncombe with instructions to get what he
could. Upon its return they declared that the packet,
which had furnished a psychic result, had been tampered
with. No independent proof whatever was offered in
support of this assertion, and Mr. Fred Barlow, who
had obtained results from Mr. Vearncombe, where he
was sure that the packets had not been tampered with,
was sufficiently interested to hunt up the name of the
sender and some details of the case from the Veam-
combe end, rather than from that of the “exposers.”
Fortunately Vearncombe had preserved the letters, and
[65]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
it was then found that the sender, when the packet and
the psychic result had been returned, had at once written
to Veamcombe to acknowledge receipt, adding the two
statements :
(1) That one of the faces strongly recalled “an
old true friend who had not been heard of for many
years,” and
(2) That the packet had been returned intact.
Thus the Magic Circle had clearly fallen into the pit
that it had digged, and its agent is convicted either of
being a senseless liar without any cause, or else of hav-
ing completely endorsed the result which the Circle
afterwards pretended was a failure. It was one of
those numerous instances when it is not the medium
but the investigators who should really be exposed. My
experience is that this is the case far more frequently
than the public can realise, and that it is amazing how
men of honour can turn and twist the facts when they
deal with this subject. A well-known “exposer” as-
sured a friend of mine that he would think nothing of
putting muslin in a medium’s pocket at a seance, if he
was sure that he could thereby secure a conviction.
I have seen a letter from Mr. Marriott, who is also
busy in showing up “frauds,” in which, writing to Mr.
Hope, he offered to teach him to make more artistic
spirit-photographs, charging thirty guineas if the les-
sons were in London and forty if at Crewe. I am quite
prepared to anticipate Mr. Marriott’s explanation that
this was a trap, but it is an example of the tortuous,
deceptive methods against which our mediums have to
contend.
[66]
MRS. DEANE AND MR. VEARNCOMBE
I understand that Mr. Veamcombe is so disgusted
with the whole episode that he declares he will demon-
strate his powers no longer, save to private friends.
We can but hope that he will not allow ignorant or dis-
honest anonymous criticism to influence him to this
extent. If all of us who endure annoyance, and even
insult, were to desert the spiritualist cause in order to
save our private feelings, we could hardly expect the
truth to prevail.
Let me conclude by saying that I speak from a far
larger experience than the representatives of the S.P.R.
or of the Magic Circle, and that, leaving out Mr. Vearn-
combe, who needs no defence in the face of the admis-
sion quoted above, I have no doubt whatever of the true
psychic powers of Mrs. Deane and of Mr. Hope, though
I cannot pronounce upon every single case at which I
was not present and when I have had no opportunity of
examining the complete evidence. I fear that the most
permanent result of this episode will be that the spir-
itualists will very reasonably refuse the present regime
of the Research Society all access to their mediums,
since experience has shown that they may, without a
chance of self-defence, be attacked in consequence in a
cheap, popular pamphlet before even the case has been
examined by any impartial authority.
POSTSCRIPT
At the last moment before this booklet goes to press,
I am able to insert the fact that Hope’s complete inno-
cence has now been clearly established, and he stands
before the world as a man who has been very cruelly
maligned, and the victim of a plot which has been quite
[67]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
extraordinary in its ramifications. It was at last found
possible to get the cover in which the original packet
of plates was wrapped, and on it were found unmistak-
able signs that it had been tampered with and opened.
Thus the deductions made in the text from the evidence
already to hand have been absolutely justified, and it
is clear that the marked plates were abstracted before
the packet reached the Psychic College and two ordinary
plates substituted, upon one of which Hope produced
an “extra.” The conclusion was reached by the acumen
and patience of Mr. Hewat McKenzie, but his results
were examined and endorsed unanimously by a strong
committee, which included, besides myself, Mr. and
Mrs. McKenzie, General Carter, Colonel Baddeley, Mr.
Stanley de Brath, Mrs. Stobart, Miss V. R. Scatcherd,
Mrs. de Crespigny, Mr. H. C. Scofield and Mr. F.
Bligh Bond. It now only remains to find out who is
the culprit who has played this cunning trick, and it is
not difficult to say that the hand which returned the
marked plate through the post is the same hand as that
which took it out of the packet. A reward has already
been offered for the identification of the person con-
cerned. In the meantime it would be unfair to blame
the agents of the S.P.R., who may, while trying to trick
Hope, have been themselves tricked. Nothing, how-
ever, can excuse them from the charge of culpable negli-
gence in failing to examine the wrappers which so
clearly tell the story, and which have been kept so long
in their possession. As the matter stands, five persons
stand as defendants : Mr. Harry Price, Mr. Moger, Mr.
James Seymour, Miss Newton, Secretary of the S.P.R.,
and Mr. Dingwall, Research Officer of that body. If
[68]
MRS. DEANE AND MR. VEARNCOMBE
there is someone else in the background who has tricked
them, then it is for them to find out who it is. Their
negligence has been such that it is difficult to say what
atonement can meet it, and it throws a very lurid light
upon some of the so-called “exposures” of the past. As
one of the oldest members of the S.P.R., I feel that
the honour of that body will not be cleared until they
have appointed an impartial committee to consider these
facts and to determine what steps should be taken.
Arthur Conan Doyle.
November 14th, 1922.
[69]
CHAPTER VII
THE GENESIS AND HISTORY OF THE CREWE CIRCLE
By F. R. Scatcherd
Member of the Society for Psychical Research,
Co- Editor of the Asiatic Review
(Miss Felicia Scatcherd, who has been one of the true psychic
researchers and pioneers of knowledge in this country, has con-
tributed the following information which she gained during her
close association with the Crewe Circle at and after the time of
its formation.)
Questioned about himself, Mr. Hope said that he was
christened “Billy Hope,” and was bom at or near Man-
chester. His first memory is of having scarlet fever
when he was four years old. During the fever he used
to see all sorts of faces peering at him through the door-
way, and became so frightened that he screamed for
his father to come and send them away. Now that he
knows about clairvoyance, he thinks otherwise of those
visions. He lost his mother when he was nine, and re-
members little about her. It is a curious fact, as he
observed : “I have washed for her picture hundreds of
times, and sat for it many a while, and have never yet
got it. These things beat me.”
When asked did he grieve much for his mother’s
death, he replied that he was brought up in a religious
family, his father being a local preacher. Later on Mr.
Hope, Senior, lost all his worldly possessions.
“My father was wealthy according to my ideas,”
[70]
HISTORY OF THE CREWE CIRCLE
said Mr. Hope. “He had two farms, but late in life
lost his money.”
Mr. Hope was well cared for by his mother as long
as he had her, and afterwards by his step-mother.
“She was a good woman: and I had an aunt of a
religious frame of mind who also kept an eye on me.”
“You must have been a very good little boy,” I said.
“Oh dear, no! I was much the same as the other
lads. I played plenty of truant, and once joined a party
of seven and ran the schoolmaster round the room.
We had agreed beforehand what we would do if he
began a-thrashing of us. But don’t put that in, Miss
Scatcherd !”
Spirit photography first interested him when he was
working at a bleach and dye-works near Pendleton.
Being an amateur photographer, he and a comrade
agreed to photograph each other one Saturday after-
noon. Mr. Hope exposed a plate on his friend and
developed it, when they saw a woman standing beside
him. The brick wall showed through the figure, there
being no background. The sitter, a Roman Catholic,
was frightened, and asked how the woman had got on
the plate, and did Mr. Hope know her. When Mr.
Hope replied that he did not know the lady nor how she
got there, the man said it was his sister who had been
dead for many years.
Neither knew anything of spiritualism, so they took
it to the works on Monday and showed it to their fore-
man, who happened also to be an amateur photographer,
and was “lost in wonder” over it. But there was a
fellow worker, a spiritualist, who said it was a spirit
photo. The foreman arranged that the experiment
[71]
THE CASE EOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
should be repeated with the same camera the following
Saturday, when not only the identical woman appeared
again but with her, her little dead baby.
“I thought this very strange,” said Mr. Hope; “it
made me more interested in spirit photography, and I
have been dabbling at it ever since. I felt sorry for
my mate, he was so scared. When he saw the second
result, I thought he would have pegged out” (died of
fright).
The Circle used to destroy all negatives. The mem-
bers did not want anyone to know about their spirit
photography, as many people did not want to do busi-
ness with them, saying it was all the devil’s work. Till
the advent of Archdeacon Colley on the scene not a
single negative was kept. After a print was taken the
negative was destroyed.
Mr. and Mrs. Buxton met Mr. Hope some seventeen
years ago at the Spiritualist Hall at Crewe, where Mr.
Buxton was organist. After the service Mr. Hope
asked Mr. Buxton if he could find one or two friends
to form a circle to sit for spirit photography. This was
done, and it was arranged to use the next Wednesday
evening from eight to nine.
One of the circle of six was a non-spiritualist, but
was converted when a picture of his father and mother
was obtained. A strange thing is that when all were
anxiously desiring a picture, a message appeared on the
first plate exposed. This message promised a picture
next time, and stated that it would be for the master of
the house. The promise was kept several sittings later,
when the picture of Mr. Buxton’s mother and cf Mrs.
Buxton’s sister came on the plate. Mr. Buxton was of
[72]
HISTORY OF THE CREWE CIRCLE
the opinion that this was given to do away with the
idea of thought photography. They were all thinking
of a picture and never dreamed that such a thing as
a written message would be given. They have been
very persevering, having sat regularly ever since, each
Wednesday from eight to nine, securing a picture on
an average of one a month at the outset.
There have been many storms before which have
broken over the Crewe Circle, but the cause of them
has usually been the limited knowledge of the strange
possibilities ol psychic photography on the part of the
sitters and of the public. One of the most notorious of
these so-called “exposures” (which really were expos-
ures of the critics’ ignorance) was in 1908, and arose
out of Archdeacon Colley’s first sitting. He had heard
that the Crewe Circle were simple-looking folk, and
this attracted him, so he broke his journey at Crewe and
called upon Mr. and Mrs. Hope, who had just lost their
eldest daughter. The Archdeacon apologised for hav-
ing come at such a time, but Mr. Hope sent him on to
Mr. and Mrs. Buxton, where he was shown the photos
and asked to see the negatives. He was shocked when
he heard that they had all been destroyed, and from
that time kept all negatives he was able to get hold of.
The Archdeacon brought his own camera, loaded at
Stockton with his own diamond-marked plates. He
kept the plates in his own possession and focussed the
camera, which he put up outside the house , although
it was raining. Mr. Hope merely pressed the bulb and
Archdeacon Colley developed the plates with his own
developer. When he held the picture to the light he
exclaimed: “My father and my sainted mother!”
[73]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Mr. Hope was the first to notice the likeness between
“Mrs. Colley” and a picture he had copied about two
years ago, and cycled with it to Mr. Spencer, of Nant-
wich. Mrs. Spencer declared it to be her grandmother,
and cried out, “Oh, if this had only come with us how
pleased we should have been !”
Mr. Hope then wrote to Archdeacon Colley telling
him it could not be his mother, as it had been recognised
at Nantwich. The Archdeacon said it was madness to
think a man did not know his own mother, and adver-
tised in the Leamington paper, asking all who remem-
bered his mother to meet him at the Rectory, when
eighteen persons selected the photograph from several
others and testified in writing that the picture was a
portrait of the late Mrs. Colley, who had never been
photographed.
The Crewe friends heard no more about the matter
until the controversy in Light (February 14th, 1914,
and subsequent numbers). The extraordinary igno-
rance, even of the spiritualistic public, on these matters,
was revealed by the storm of indignation that burst
upon the devoted heads of the Crewe Circle and their
supporters. The testimony of such students and schol-
ars as the late Mr. James W. Sharpe, M.A., of Bourne-
mouth, an eminent mathematician and expert authority
on all questions of psychical research, did little to allay
the outburst. In vain it was pointed out that no fact
was better vouched for than the reproduction by “spirit”
photographers of well-known pictures and photographs,
often true in every detail to the originals. The theory
and fact of ideoplasticity were ridiculed just as they are
ridiculed to-day by those who should keep themselves
[74]
HISTORY OF THE CREWE CIRCLE
up-to-date in physical science, if they wish to judge
justly the yet more complex problems of psychical
science.
The Society for Psychical Research was as unhelpful
as the “man in the street,” so far as its leading author-
ities were concerned.
To return to the beginning of things : it was on July
1 6th, 1909, when, in response to a telegram from Arch-
deacon Colley, I went to Leamington, where I first met
the Rev. Prof. Henslow and two members of the Crewe
Circle who were on a visit to the Archdeacon. A seance
for spirit photography was held. It was disappointing
in one sense. Prof. Henslow was told that he would
find impressions on certain plates in a sealed packet on
the table which was not to be opened for a fortnight .
I prepared to say good-bye, when Mr. Hope said he
would like to do something for the visitor from Lon-
don. “The friends say that if the lady can remain the
night they will give her a test.” I replied that the only
test of interest to me was one that would convince my
fellow-members of the Society for Psychical Research.
The mediums insisted, but I refused to stay unless
Prof. Henslow also remained and took charge of the
proceedings.
“Sir, do stay !” pleaded Mr. Hope. “There are five
of us — you, the Archdeacon, Mrs. Buxton, Miss Scatch-
erd and myself. You must buy five plates from your
own photographer. Each plate must be put into a light-
tight envelope and worn by the sitter, with the sensitised
surface next to the person, until the seance. It will not
take long to fetch the plates and bring them back to us.
Thus we shall have an hour to wear them before the
[75]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
seance this evening. It is the only way to get them
magnetised so as to have immediate results. You can
each develop your own plate to-night and then Miss
Scatcherd will know whether the friends have kept
their word.”
Prof. Henslow good-naturedly agreed and drove off
with the Archdeacon to purchase the plates. I remained
with Mrs. Buxton and Mr. Hope. Within an hour
the Archdeacon returned with four plates put up as
directed. Professor Henslow had gone home to dinner
wearing his plate in a wood slide contrived by Arch-
deacon Colley. Mrs. Buxton and I tucked ours inside
our blouses and Mr. Hope placed his in that trouser-
pocket which has aroused such evil suspicions in the
minds of investigators. We remained together until
Prof. Henslow joined us. It was full daylight We
sat round the table when Mr. Hope asked :
“What do you want, Miss Scatcherd? A face? A
message? What shall it be?”
“You forget my conditions; Prof. Henslow must
decide. Let him choose,” I replied.
Prof. Henslow said he did not care what came so
long as the same thing appeared on all the plates. It
was a remark worthy of the speaker, conveying, as it
did, a most crucial test, in view of the fact that he had
never let his plate out of his own keeping. The usual
seance was held.
Prof. Henslow developed his plate first. I developed
mine under Archdeacon Colley’s supervision, then Mrs.
Buxton and Mr. Hope developed theirs.
The results are of interest. The Archdeacon did not
wear a plate so as to leave “more power for the others.”
[76]
HISTORY OF THE CREWE CIRCLE
Mr. Hope’s plate was blurred. The tablet on Prof.
Henslow’s was identical in outline with Mrs. Buxton’s
and mine, both of which were sharp and clear, but Mrs.
Buxton’s was the best. Mrs. Buxton had been with
me the whole time, and her six-months-old baby had
never left her arms.
The message addressed to Prof. Henslow was ap-
propriate, but the writing was so microscopically fine
that we could not read it that night. Mr. Hope was
very disappointed. “Never mind,” he said, “when we
get home we will ask the guides to give it us again !”
He and Mrs. Buxton were leaving by the early morn-
ing train. The Archdeacon had charge of the nega-
tives and had promised to let us know as soon as he
had deciphered the message.
The mediums did not like their lodgings, so slept at
my hotel. I saw them off in the morning, before any
of us knew what the message was. A day or two later
I received from the mediums a duplicate of the mes-
sage not yet known to them or to myself. But this
time the writing was large enough to be read by the
naked eye. As Prof. Henslow had requested, the same
thing had come on all the plates in differing degrees of
distinctness.
This was my first experience of a Crewe skotograph,
and it was decisive. As I wrote in the Psychic Gazette
from notes submitted to Archdeacon Colley at the time,
and afterwards read by Prof. Henslow when published,
no suspicions could fall either on the mediums, Arch-
deacon Colley or myself, as not one of us had had the
chance of tampering with Prof. Henslow’s plate, nor
could Prof. Henslow and his photographer have pre-
[77]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
pared a series of plates for an occasion on which they
had no reason to have reckoned.
I wrote a minute account of these early experiments,
according to the strictest psychical research methods,
and left it with Mr. Wallis, the then editor of Light.
He did not publish it, and when I returned to England
it could not be found. This incident is briefly recorded
by Prof. Henslow in Proofs of the Truths of Spiritual-
ism, pp. 224-7.
[78]
Fig. 16. — Photomicrograph by Major R. E. E. Fig. 17. — Photomicrograph by Major R. E. E.
Spencer of portion of Archdeacon Colley’s Spencer of portion of Archdeacon Colley’s sig-
signature taken from letter written during his nature on psychograph appearing after his
lifetime. ( See p. 84.) death. Compare with Figs. 2. and 16.
Fig 18.— Photograph of Mr. Wm. Walker Fig. 19.— Mr. and Mrs. Harry Walker and two
with message in the handwriting of Mr. friends with psychic likeness of Mr. Walker’s
W. T. Stead. ( See p. 87.) father. Compare with Fig. 18.
CHAPTER VIII
EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF
PSYCHIC PHOTOGRAPHY
By Fred Barlow
Hon. Sec. S.S.S.P., Hon. Sec. Birmingham and Midland S.P.R.
No phase of psychical research has been more adversely
criticised in the past than psychic photography. This
is undoubtedly due to the prevalence of many erroneous
ideas on the whole subject.
It is a popular fallacy that it is the easiest thing in the
world to fake a “spirit” photograph. Those few pho-
tographers who have tried to imitate a genuine psychic
effect have usually made the discovery that it is by no
means so easy a matter as it appears, even when no
restriction is placed on the conditions under which the
fake should be produced. When conditions are im-
posed, similar to those usually obtaining with, say, the
Crewe Circle, the difficulty of producing a fraudulent
result is enormously increased. Under certain condi-
tions, where suitable precautions are employed and
where the sitter has a thorough knowledge of photog-
raphy, plus an acquaintance with trick methods, even
the possibility of deception without detection can, for
all practical purposes, be ruled out of court. Under
these special conditions, investigators of repute have on
many occasions secured successful psychic results .
Apart altogether from any question of test condi-
tions, however, there are certain results which, in them -
[79]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
selves, afford definite proof of their genuine nature. I
refer to those recognised psychic likenesses obtained by
sitters who are quite unknown to the sensitives and
who have secured results which could not possibly have
been prepared in advance. One such case would be
sufficient to establish the reality of psychic photography.
It is no exaggeration to say that this has actually oc-
curred on scores of occasions, and, in consequence, the
evidence for the truth of psychic photography is
overwhelming.
It has been said that recognised psychic likenesses
exists only in the imagination of the individuals claim-
ing them as such. It is, alas, too true that some well-
meaning individuals will see a likeness where none
exists. It is, however, equally true that many bigoted
sceptics will refuse to acknowledge a likeness that is
obvious to the unprejudiced on comparing normal and
supernormal photographs. There are two sides to the
question of credulity, and I have known sceptics deny
the reality of a likeness where the supernormal effect
has been an exact (but draped) duplicate of a normal
photograph !
We must remember that it may be difficult to recog-
nise a likeness between a normal and supernormal photo-
graph where the subject to us is unknown. Two photo-
graphs of the same individual, taken at different pe-
riods, will often vary considerably, but those acquainted
with that individual can recognise the likeness of each
photograph to the original without the slightest diffi-
culty. So in a supernormal photograph : those claiming
a likeness between the supernormal effect and some near
relative, or friend, who has crossed the border, are in a
[80]
EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS
better position, from their knowledge of that person,
to speak with authority on the question of recognition
than those who never saw the original. This question
of recognised likenesses is a point the critic tries to
evade. The reader can judge of the value of this evi-
dence from the few illustrations in this booklet which
are typical of hundreds of similar results.
The mental attitude of some intelligent people to
psychic photography is distinctly curious. They have
got the idea fixed into their heads that these photo-
graphs must be one of two things — “fakes” or “spirits.”
Naturally enough, in some of the cases that have been
reported they find it difficult to believe that such a re-
sult could have been produced entirely by a discarnate
entity. Therefore they jump to the false conclusion
that the result must of necessity have been faked. In
a scientific investigation we should first of all concern
ourselves with facts , without troubling over-much with
theories. A very little first-hand investigation will
satisfy any unprejudiced individual as to the reality
of psychic photography. Having reached that stage
such a person will be in a better position to theorise
on the cause of the phenomena.
After many years of close concentration on this
subject I have arrived at the conclusion that psychic
photography differs only in kind and not in degree from
other phases of psychic phenomena. I do not see how
we can possibly get away from the fact that many of
these photographic effects are produced by discarnate
intelligences. Whilst firmly believing this, I should
never be so dogmatic as to claim that all supernormal
pictures have been produced by discarnate spirits
[81]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Spirit, whether discarnate or incarnate, to manifest
to our material senses must make use of matter — there
must be a medium. A medium, or sensitive, is just
as essential for psychic photography as for, say, auto-
matic writing. As investigators are aware, in auto-
matic script it frequently happens that along with com-
munications from the “other side” come writings de-
rived from the subconsciousness of the automatist, and
such, I am convinced, is often the case in psychic pho-
tography.
The subconscious is used to cover a multitude of
theories. Certainly it is not an unfeasible explanation
in some instances. Let me cite one case, which is typi-
cal of many. One of the members of the S.S.S.P. —
Mr. Hobbs, of Purley, a keen business man — travelled
to Crewe with his wife. They and the Crewe Circle
were perfect strangers to each other. Mrs. Hobbs at
the time was wearing a locket containing a photograph
of their son, who had been killed in the war. This
was tucked away out of sight in her blouse. The
usual seance was held and to their great delight the
visitors secured a picture of their boy. Trickery was
impossible. Even supposing Mr. Hope had seen the
photograph in the locket there was no time to produce
a fraudulent result and foist this upon the alert sitters.
A careful examination of the print, however, reveals
the fact that the psychic picture is an exact but re-
versed duplicate of the photograph in the locket. Even
the rim of the locket can be clearly seen. This sort of
thing has occurred time and again.
The image of the locket would be indelibly impressed
on the memory of the mother, and it may well be that
[82]
EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS
in some peculiar way the sensitive proved a medium
for the projection of that conscious or subconscious
image on to the photographic plate. Such an argument
is not to be lightly dismissed, and the fact that the
image obtained on the plate may not have been in the
conscious mind of the sitter at the time does not neces-
sarily affect the issue. I candidly admit that some such
explanation may account for many of these curious
effects.
Sometimes the psychic pictures are facsimile copies
of magazine covers and pictures no fraudulent medium
would ever think of producing, and, like the faces in
our dreams, they may come from the subconscious. At
the same time, attempts to produce definite conscious
thought-pictures, with the co-operation of a photo-
graphic medium, have almost always proved abortive
in our experiments in this country. Some of the Con-
tinental members of the S.S.S.P., however, have con-
centrated on this line of research and have succeeded
in obtaining thoughtgraphs which, more or less, re-
semble the object on which the thoughts of the subject
have been intensely concentrated. These experiments,
and, in particular, recent photographic experiments in
connection with subjects under hypnosis, are yielding
encouraging results.
We must be careful not to overdo the subconscious.
It is no self-contained unit, but rather an instrument
used in the production of these phenomena. In con-
sequence, it frequently happens that along with com-
munications from the “other side” comes matter de-
rived from the subconsciousness of the sensitive and
even from that of the sitter. An investigator obsessed
[83]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
with the idea of fraud will often effectively negative
all phenomena by his unconscious action on the men-
tality of the medium. In these investigations we must
use that uncommon faculty of common sense. Com-
mon sense tells us that we cannot accept the explana-
tion that all psychic photographs are produced by the
thoughts of incarnate beings. Whether it agrees with
his pet theories or not, the serious student is bound
to realise that, sooner or later, other minds are at work
distinct from, and often superior in intelligence to,
that of either medium or sitter. These intelligences
claim to be the spirits of the so-called dead. They sub-
stantiate their claims by giving practical proof that
they are whom they purport to be.
For example, what better proof of survival could be
given by a deceased person than that of a message in
his own handwriting, referring to events that happened
after his death? Such messages are by no means an
unfrequent occurrence. There can be no doubt about
the genuineness of the handwriting. Major R. E. E.
Spencer has gone to an immense amount of time and
trouble in making photomicrographs of normal and
supernormal writings for the purpose of comparison.
Illustrations are given of two of these photomicro-
graphs. Figure 16 shows a portion of the signature of
Archdeacon Colley taken from a letter written by him
before death, whilst Figure 17 shows a corresponding
portion reproduced from a photographic message re-
ceived after his death. This message referred to events
subsequent to his decease.
Occasionally, in these psychographs, as these written
photographic messages are termed, the mentality of
[84]
EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS
the medium or sitters will get in the way, with very
curious results. Throughout all these phenomena,
however, there is every indication that other influences
are at work. Whoever or whatever these intelligences
behind the scenes may be, in no uncertain voice they
claim to be discamate souls. Surely they are in a
better position to form a correct opinion hereon than
we material outsiders?
How do the psychic images get on to the plate? Far
too much time, in the past, has been lost in attempting
to convince those who do not believe (and those who
do not want to believe), of the genuine nature of psychic
photography, and our ignorance of this phenomenon
is appalling. The difficulties attending scientific re-
search in this domain are considerable. So far, we
can only definitely say that in many instances the
psychic figures on the plate are not objective in the
same sense as the sitters. The supernormal images
have every appearance of having been projected on
to the sensitive plate, independently of the lens and
camera. In employing several cameras simultaneously,
together with a stereo camera, I have only succeeded
so far in securing a psychic image on one of the plates
exposed.
There are indications that in some cases the psychic
effects are printed on to the plate through a psychic
equivalent to our normal transparency — in fact, it has
come to be known as a psychic transparency. Identical
transparency markings are to be found on the plates
of photographic sensitives from all parts of the world.
These particular markings can clearly be seen over the
negative obtained by Mr. Harry Price in his experiment
[85]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
with Mr. Hope. I am convinced that the effect obtained
on this occasion was a genuine psychic result. The
possibility of this is freely admitted by Mr. Price. The
fact that in nine cases out of ten the psychic images
are the same way up as the sitter suggests that the
“something” that occurs actually takes place after the
plate has been inserted in the dark slide. Such small
points as these may eventually play an important part
in the final solution of the modus operandi.
Now let us return to the object of this book — the
question of evidence. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has
dealt so thoroughly, earlier in these pages, with the
recent attacks by the S.P.R. and the Magic Circle that
I do not propose to refer to them again here at length.
As illustrating the impartial attitude of the Society
of which I have the honour to be Secretary, however,
I would like to say that almost immediately on the
publication of these critical reports the matter was dis-
cussed by the members of this Society, and it was
arranged to subject the whole of the evidence to a
thorough investigation. In this connection the S.S.S.P.,
in conjunction with the B.C.P.S., sought the co-opera-
tion of the Society for Psychical Research and the
Occult Committee of the Magic Circle.
A proposal was sent to the bodies mentioned ex-
pressing the desire of the S.S.S.P. to subject the
charges to thorough and impartial investigation, and
suggesting that three members from each of these four
bodies should form a committee of investigation. The
members elected by the S.S.S.P. were Dr. Abraham
Wallace, President, Col. C. E. Baddeley, C.M.G., O.G.,
and Major R. E. E. Spencer, three careful and ex-
[86]
EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS
perienced investigators. For reasons best known to
themselves, both the S.P.R. and the Occult Committee
of the Magic Circle refused to entertain this sugges-
tion. The reader can draw whatever inference he likes
from this uncompromising attitude. To my mind such
a refusal is directly opposed to the objects for which
the Society for Psychical Research was formed.
A striking example of the persistence of personality
is to be found in the case of the late Mr. Wm. Walker,
of Buxton. Mr. Walker was the President of the
Buxton Camera Club. Being a keen photographer, he
took an intense interest in the work of the Crewe Circle
and co-operated with them in numerous experiments.
He was the first photographer to obtain psychic photo-
graphic results in colours (by the Paget process)
through the mediumship of his friends.
Shortly before the late Mr. W. T. Stead left this
country for his last voyage to America, Mr. Walker
saw him in London. Mr. Stead was very interested in
the results obtained at Crewe and strongly urged his
friend to keep him posted as to future developments.
A little while later Mr. Stead was drowned on the ill-
fated Titanic. On May 6th, 1912, Mr. Walker, in ex-
perimenting at Crewe, was surprised and pleased to
receive on his plates a message from his friend, which
read:
“Dear Mr. Walker,
“I will try to keep you posted.
“W. T. Stead.”
1
Two plates had been exposed; both contained the
same message, but in one case the writing was reversed
[87]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
and appeared as “mirror writing/' as it is called. This
result is shown by Figure 18. The writing does not re-
produce very clearly, but experts have declared that,
beyond all doubt, it is identical with the handwriting
of the late W. T. Stead.
Mr. Wm. Walker followed Mr. Stead into the Great
Beyond a few years later. Since his death his relatives
and friends have received innumerable tokens of his
activities on the “other side,” in connection with the
subject in which he was so interested whilst in the body.
The illustration shown by Figure 19 represents a normal
photograph of Mr. H. Walker and his wife (son and
daughter-in-law) and two friends, with a clearly-
defined supernormal likeness of the late Mr. Wm.
Walker. This was taken under satisfactory test con-
ditions on February 19th, 1916.
As illustrating the interest Mr. Walker still takes in
the Crewe Circle, attention is directed to the psycho-
graph shown by Figure 20. This was secured late on
Friday evening, July 28th, 1922, and reads (my own
punctuation) :
“Dear Friends of the Circle,
“I would not spend a moment with the Psychical
Research Scty, because they are nothing more nor
less than fraud hunters and I want you to come to
Buxton for a sitting with Mrs. Walker, 3, Palace
Rd., about the 8th 9th of Aug. Then the spirit
friends can further demonstrate the wondrous
powers which to-day are needed more than ever.
Peace be with you.
“Yours faithfully,
“W. Walker.”
“Please inform Henry.”
[88]
EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS
The postscript refers to Mr. Walker’s son, who re-
sides in Crewe. I have examined a number of letters
in the handwriting of Mr. Walker, senior, and find
that the slip in spelling is such that he might make.
A portion of one of these letters is reproduced on Figure
21, and when compared with the psychograph along-
side it should leave no doubts in the mind of the reader
as to authorship.
It is perhaps unnecessary to state that the instruc-
tions given by Mr. Wm. Walker were carried out to
the letter. The results of the short visit of the Crewe
Circle to Buxton are best described by quoting an ex-
tract from a letter I received from Mr. Henry Walker :
“We (Mrs. Buxton, Mr. Hope and myself) went
to Buxton on Wednesday, 9th inst. (August, 1922.
— Ed.). Two sittings were held and four exposures
made.
“The first exposure was made on mother, and
gives a message from father to Mrs. Buxton and Mr.
Hope, dealing again with the S.P.R. test and promis-
ing a puzzle.
“The second exposure was made on mother, Mrs.
Marriott (an old friend of ours) and myself, and
shows a very large face of father nearly covering
the three of us.
“I developed each plate carefully and noticed the
psychic light was much more keen than the daylight.
“After a rest of a couple of hours, we held the
second sitting.
“The first plate exposed on mother shows a med-
ley : a good photo of father and a lot of flowers or
foliage and the feathers of a Red Indian friend.
“The second plate only shows a few lights.
“I fancy father’s record alone should be sufficient
to satisfy any sensible being. I daresay I can find
[89]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
well over twenty psychic results received from him
on different occasions, most of them under reason-
able test conditions.
{Signed) “H. Walker.”
The Crewe Circle invariably place implicit faith in
the messages they receive from the other side. These
worthy and simple people are very closely in touch with
their invisible helpers, who advise them, by means of
photographic messages, in their troubles and ailments.
Occasionally the advice given has been directly opposed
to the wishes of the mediums, but they never hesitate
to carry out these instructions, which usually prove
that the directing intelligences possess knowledge and
foresight far exceeding that of their human instru-
ments.
I can appreciate that some of my readers will ex-
perience difficulty in accepting these remarkable state-
ments. When first I heard of these marvellous things
I put them down to credulity, exaggeration, and so
forth. However, I determined to get at the truth for
myself. Nothing less than personal experience would
satisfy me. The first psychic photographs I saw did
not very greatly impress me. As a photographer, I
recognised that I could produce similar results, and
with the conceit that comes from ignorance I suggested
they were fakes. Even as fakes they were interesting,
however, and on inquiring further into the matter I
discovered that the conditions under which they had
been secured would necessitate smart work on the part
of a trickster. Also I was puzzled to understand how
photographers of the calibre of Mr. J. Traill Taylor
could be easily gulled. Eventually I travelled to Crewe
[90]
EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS
in a rather critical frame of mind, but fully prepared
to be fair to the mediums. I received a surprise. The
result obtained bore a strong resemblance to myself.
It could easily be taken as a twin brother. I had a
brother who, when he died, was a little older than
myself. I was given practically a free hand in the
photographic operations, and was impressed by the
faith and honesty of the mediums. To detail all the
precautions I took from time to time to eliminate the
possibility of conscious and even unconscious deception,
in my further experiments, would prove a wearisome
business. Suffice it to say that the use of my own
apparatus and specially-prepared plates, the dismissal
of the medium from the dark room for all the photo-
graphic operations, the sharp look-out that was kept
for certain known methods of faking, and the con-
ducting of experiments with the mediums in my own
home, eventually convinced me, beyond all doubt, of
the reality of psychic photography.
I discovered early that the mental attitude of the
sitter played an important part in the success or other-
wise of the experiment. We. know so little of the
difficulties that have to be overcome — so little of the
laws and conditions governing the production oi these
wonderful results, that it is essential we should ap-
proach the subject with an open mind. We must be
sympathetic in our methods of investigation. A
medium is sensitive in more senses than one, and a
little tact and persuasion will succeed where bullying
and blustering will fail.
With the three photographic sensitives most known
in this country I have secured remarkable results.
[91]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Whatever may have happened, or may happen, on other
occasions, nothing can in the slightest degree shake my
firm conviction that, with these three sensitives, I have
secured genuine psychic photographic effects. With
Mrs. Deane, in my own home, we secured an excellent
picture of my father (see Figure 30). True, Mrs.
Deane had the plates beforehand for “magnetising,”
but that would not enable her to produce an unmistak-
able likeness of someone she had never seen — a likeness
which could not have been produced from any existing
photograph, in the very unlikely event of her obtaining
such. Moreover it is not essential, in every case, that
Mrs. Deane should have the plates beforehand for mag-
netising. On several occasions, members of the S.S.S.P.
have, without Mrs. Deane’s knowledge, substituted a
fresh unopened packet of plates for the unopened packet
she has had with her, without interfering with the
success of the experiment.
Mr. Vearncombe has been most successful as a
medium for obtaining results on plates in sealed packets.
Effectively to test Mr. Vearncombe, I devoted a great
deal of time to wrapping and sealing packets which
could not possibly be tampered with without leaving
some trace of such tampering. Others have done like-
wise, and on the plates in such packets, which after the
most careful scrutiny have revealed no evidence of
tampering, we have secured successful results. On one
occasion I persuaded a local professional photographer
to seal a packet of plates before I handled them. This
he did very thoroughly, and then I added my own
wrappings and seals and sent the package on to Vearn-
combe. Within a week the packet was returned intact.
[92]
EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS
Mr. Frederic Lewis of Birmingham, who co-op-
erated with me in this test, is a technical photographer
of more than average ability and his certificate is of
value. In this he states :
“I certify that on May 14th, 1920, I wrapped and
sealed an unopened packet of Imperial Special Sensi-
tive -plates and handed the packet to Mr. Fred
Barlow, who then fixed his own wrappings and seals.
Mr. Barlow brought back the packet of plates to me
on the morning of May 20th, 1920, and in my pres-
ence broke his own wrappings and seals. I then
very carefully verified that my own seals and wrap-
pings were intact and am quite convinced that these
had not been interfered with. I personally devel-
oped the plates in the presence of Mr. Barlow. On
two out of the twelve plates in the package distinct
negative images of faces developed — one face on one
plate and three small faces on another. I can offer
no explanation of this result apart from being per-
fectly satisfied that no trickery or deception was
practised.
{Signed) “Frederic Lewis.”
Could anything be more definite and conclusive than
that?
With the Crewe Circle I have had so many tests that
it is difficult to select the most stringent. As the well-
known Price case of alleged fraud bears on the ques-
tion of the substitution of dark slides, the following
case may be of interest. On this occasion the substi-
tution of dark slides was impossible, for the simple
reason that no dark slides were used.
Saying nothing to the members of the Circle before-
hand, I took with me to Crewe on November 12th,
[93]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
1921, a loaded box camera containing six specially-
marked plates of a size smaller than those usually em-
ployed in experiments of this nature. All that Hope
and Mrs. Buxton did was to arch their hands over
this magazine camera whilst one of them flicked the
shutter-catch. Photographic readers will realise that
it is impossible to tamper with the plates in a box
camera, in daylight, without spoiling the lot. To en-
able the “power” to flow from Mr. Hope on to the
plates, the controlling intelligence stipulated that Mr.
Hope should be allowed to take hold of my right wrist
as I dropped each plate into the developer. Psychic
effects were secured on two out of the six plates under
conditions which, I am convinced, rendered deception
impossible. I have been told that Mr. Hope must have
printed the effects on to the plates by flashlight whilst
he had hold of my wrist. If the critic derives any
comfort from believing that this actually occurred he
is welcome to his belief !
In another evidential case is that already mentioned
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of an experiment conducted
by two photographic members of the S.S.S.P. and
myself at Crewe. In this case the camera and slides
employed were brand new and were not examined by
the sensitives until after the sitting. The dark slides
differed from those usually employed by the sensitives.
Neither Mr. Hope nor Mrs. Buxton was in the dark
room for loading the slides or for developing the plates.
The central face of three supernormal faces secured
on this occasion is an undoubted likeness of the father
of one of the sitters. The result was absolutely con-
clusive to my friends and myself. We emphatically
[94]
Fig. 20. — Psychograph in the handwriting of Mr. Fig. 21. — Portion of letter written by Mr. Wm.
Wm. Walker obtained at Crewe on July 28th, Walker during his lifetime for comparison with
1922. Compare with normal handwriting shown psychograph Fig. 20.
in Ficr (Si>e n 88^
si
^ UN
«+H
J2 bio
q. u 'rr
So^j-
o 2 *
Ph c
’. J4
rr> u
CM O
’V
. ti
O ns
Fig. 22. — Mr. S. Maddocks, Hon. Sec. of the
Sheffield and District S.P.R., with psychic
photograph of his first wife. Compare with
Fig. 23. ( See p. 113.)
EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS
declare that under the circumstances trickery was im-
possible.
Since the above was written I have been favoured
with further excellent personal proof. On October
7th, 1922, I secured at Crewe several fine photographs
of my father. The best were secured on plates ex-
posed in a camera brought by one of three friends who
accompanied me. He is an experienced and critical
photographer, and was responsible for the whole of
the photographic operations. Reference to Figure 31
will show that the psychic face has moved and appears
in no less than six different places. This face is very
similar to the Deane photo (Figure 30), but by no
means absolutely identical.
The next chapter contains a series of abbreviated
accounts and reports by investigators in every station of
life. For the purpose of this book they are confined to
accounts connected with the Crewe Circle. In my ca-
pacity of Hon. Secretary to the S.S.S.P. it is my privi-
lege to receive these documents in ever-increasing num-
bers. I imagine that the most hardened sceptic, occupy-
ing a similar position for a few months, would be
convinced of the reality of psychic photography by this
evidence alone. Knowing it to be true, I look forward
with confidence to that day, not far distant, when all
this talk of fake and fraud shall be no more and when
the psychologist and scientist shall combine the investi-
gation of this vital problem.
[95]
CHAPTER IX
CONCLUSIVE PROOF FROM MANY SOURCES
This concluding chapter contains a number of plain,
straight statements from those possessing first-hand
knowledge of the Crewe Circle. Such positive and
definite evidence is of far more value from an eviden-
tial and scientific standpoint than the mere opinions of
those who have never investigated. Owing to the
exigencies of space it has been necessary to abbreviate
most of these accounts and also to omit many others,
equally convincing. For evidential reasons each report
or contribution contains the full name and address of
the communicator.
The Evidence of GEORGE H. LETHEM, ESQ.,
JUSTICE OF THE PEACE FOR THE COUNTY OF THE
CITY OF GLASGOW
I first heard of the Crewe Circle in the autumn of
1918. At that time I was editor of the Daily Record ,
Glasgow, and had made the acquaintance of Mr. Peter
Galloway, President of the Glasgow Association of
Spiritualists, through an article on spiritualism which
he contributed to that paper.
Mr. Galloway told me that the Crewe Circle were
coming to Glasgow, and he invited me to attend their
first sitting. This I agreed to do; I bought a packet of
quarter-plates at a City shop, took note of the wrapper
markings and kept the packet safe, with the cover un-
broken.
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
My wife accompanied me to the sitting, which was
held in a large, well-lighted attic room some distance
from the house where the members of the Circle were
lodging. I saw them arrive, saw them unpack their
photographic outfit, and saw them borrow a dark cloth
(which I examined) for use as a background. Obtain-
ing permission, I examined the camera, the slide, the
lens, the bellows (for pin-holes) and all the accessories,
without finding anything suspicious. I treated the sit-
ting as a test and took every step, so far as I knew, to
provide against conscious or unconscious deception.
Including Mr. Hope and Mrs. Buxton, there were
nine or ten people present. To all of these, except Mr.
Galloway, I was quite unknown, and I was introduced
simply as a “friend.”
I had time to complete my examination — in which
I included the little adjoining dark room — before the
proceedings began. All present then sat round a table,
on which my packet of plates was laid within my reach
and in my sight. There were hymns and a prayer, then
the packet was lifted and held for a few seconds be-
tween Mr. Hope’s hands, with the hands of all the
others — my own included — above and below. The
packet, which was never out of my sight, was then re-
turned to me and I satisfied myself by the markings that
it was mine, that the wrapper was intact, and that, there-
fore, there could have been no tampering with the
plates.
Putting the unopened packet in my pocket, I followed
Mr. Hope into the dark room, taking with me the slide
from the camera. In the dark room Mr. Hope stood in
the far corner and I stood close by the door, leaving a
clear space between us. Mr. Hope said, in explanation
of this arrangement, that he did not want to touch the
plates but only to see that I handled them properly.
Taking the packet from my pocket, I broke the cover,
extracted two plates and put the packet back in my
pocket. Keeping the plates within Mr. Hope’s view
[9 71
THE CASE EOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
but quite out of his reach, I wrote my name on each of
them and put them into the slide, which I carried out of
the room before handing it to Mr. Hope. Up to this
point, Mr. Hope had quite certainly not touched the
plates. Having seen the slide placed in the camera, I
sat down beside my wife, facing the lens.
The camera had been previously focussed and an
exposure was made — Mr. Hope standing on the right
and Mrs. Buxton on the left and joining hands (Mr.
Hope’s left, Mrs. Buxton’s right) above the camera.
In this attitude Mr. Hope pressed the pneumatic bulb
with his right hand and so made the exposure, which
was longer than for an ordinary photograph. Then the
slide was turned and a second exposure was made on
other two members of the party.
When the second exposure was completed, Mr. Hope
took the slide out t)f the camera, carried it into the dark
room, and emptied the plates into my hands in front of
the red glass window. Making sure that my signature
was on each of the plates, I placed them in a shaded
receptacle, signed other two plates and put them into
the slide with the same precautions as before. Then,
seeing Mr. Hope out of the room, I shut the door and
stood before it whilst two other exposures were made.
Re-entering the dark room, I received the plates from
the slide as before and proceeded to develop the four
plates with material supplied by Mr. Hope, who re-
mained in the room but stood as far from the develop-
ing dish as possible and left the whole of the handling
to me.
Standing before the red window, I saw the images
come up on the plates and noticed that on three of them
there were figures other than the ordinary representa-
tions of the sitters. When development was finished, I
carried the plates from the dark room and, before any-
one else was allowed to touch them, I examined them
individually and satisfied myself beyond doubt that they
were the four identical plates on which I had written
[98]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
*ny name and that the normal figures on these plates
corresponded with the four exposures I had seen made.
That each of the four plates bore my signature, clear
and characteristic, I accepted as proof that these were
the plates I had placed in the slide and no others, for it
was impossible that my signature could have been
forged: therefore, I reasoned, there had been no sub-
stitution of prepared plates.
Looking through the negatives, I could see that, in
addition to the normal figures of the sitters, there were
distinct “extras” on three of the plates, each “extra”
being distinct in form from the others.
On No. i plate — that for which my wife and I had
been the sitters — there was the clear representation of
a face looking out from an arched veil. This “extra”
was superimposed on the image of the sitters and par-
tially obscured them, as if the “something” it repre-
sented had come between them and the lens.
As soon as the plate was dry, a rough print was ob-
tained by placing a sheet of printing paper over the
negative and holding it up to the window, through
which the sun was shining. That rough print showed
the normal figures and the “extra” as they were after-
wards printed by Mr. Hope.
Five possibilities are, therefore, ruled out in seeking
to account for this particular “extra” :
1. The plates were not faked before exposure.
2. There was no substitution of plates.
3. There was no double exposure.
4. There was no double printing.
5. The plate was not faked after development.
As soon as the rough proof of plate No. 1 was ob-
tained, the face of the “extra” was recognised by my
wife and myself as an unmistakable likeness of our
elder son, who had been killed in the war, and this
recognition was corroborated fully and completely
[99]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
later on by other members of the family, and is there-
fore beyond dispute.
In considering this likeness and its recognition, I
take note of certain facts, namely : ( i ) That Mr. Hope
did not know me and did not know my son, or even that
I had a son; (2) that neither Mr. Hope nor anyone in
the room, save my wife and myself, had ever seen my
son, and that it is unlikely that any one of them had
seen his photographs; and (3) that although the like-
ness is unmistakable, the image of the face is not a
reproduction of any normal photograph.
In view of these facts, it seemed to me then, and
seems to me still, that it was quite impossible that Mr.
Hope could have consciously produced that likeness
either by skill or trick or both.
I was afterwards present at several of Mr. Hope's
sittings and was allowed on at least two other occasions
to accompany him into the dark room and to watch the
whole of his procedure. I kept a keen lookout for
tricks — with many of which I was acquainted, but I
saw none.
Also I have discussed the details many times with
photographic experts and I have read the accusations
brought against Mr. Hope, and I am quite satisfied that
— whatever may have happened on other occasions —
none of the suggestions of trickery put forward can
account for the “extras” I have described, and particu-
larly for that in which I am most directly interested.
( Signed ) George H. Lethem.
Hazeldene,
Harehills Lane ,
Leeds.
[100]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
The Evidence of W. G. MITCHELL, ESQ.,
OF DARLINGTON
{Mr. Mitchell is a Vice-President of the S.S.S.P.,
and President of the Darlington Photographic
Society. He is a photographer and investigator
of considerable experience .)
I first came in touch with Mr. Hope and Mrs. Buxton
at Crewe. My second meeting with these good people
was at Middlesbrough, where they were spending a
holiday. I have thus had an opportunity of experi-
menting in the atmosphere of their own seance-room
and studio, and also under the improvised conditions
of a friend’s residence.
The subject of supernormal photography was not
entirely new to me. I had met Mr. Edward Wyllie,
the “spirit” photographer, when in Ireland, and watched
his operations almost daily during his fortnight’s so-
journ in that country. I subjected him to the most
stringent and ingenious tests that I could devise. As
founder and president of a photographic society, I
was fully alive to all the possibilities of faking, but was
quite satisfied that I had removed from Mr. Wyllie any
opportunity to indulge in photographic legerdemain.
With all my caution, results persisted. All the ordi-
nary laws of photography, as far as I understood them,
were upset and violated.
But to get back to the Crewe Circle. I had arranged
with a friend who was at that time editor-manager of
an important Northern newspaper to visit Crewe for
the purpose of meeting the Crewe Circle. As brother
members of a psychical research society, we desired to
add to our experiences. Having taken the precaution
of purchasing plates locally and following the usual
recommendation of carrying them in close proximity to
the body, we looked forward to our journey. The ap-
pointed day arrived, but no day in modern history could
[IOI]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
have been more unsuitable or less conducive to good
results. It was December 16th, 1914, and the news
tapped out over the “private wire” was most disquiet-
ing; the Huns were shelling Scarborough and West
Hartlepool. My friend realised that it was impossible
for him to desert his editorial chair, and he hurriedly
gave me his box of plates. I met Mr. William Walker,
of Buxton, en route , and together we journeyed to
Crewe. A short devotional service was held in the
kitchen of Mrs. Buxton’s home, during which I was
informed that only one box of plates could be dealt
with. I selected the box purchased by my absent friend
and expressed a desire that some result should be given
that would give him satisfaction and conviction. I was
instructed that four plates would be dealt with and that
I could select any particular four I desired from the
box; I named the third and fourth, ninth and tenth.
This selection secured two pairs of plates that would be
packed film to film, and would probably be hinged to-
gether with emulsion.
The unsealed box was then placed on the centre of
the table, and as it bore a rubber stamp impression of
the firm from which it was purchased I am quite satis-
fied that there was no substitution of boxes. Mr. Hope
then insisted that I should dismantle his camera. This
I did most thoroughly, giving special attention to the
dark slides, lens and shutter.
Having placed the dark slides in my pocket, we en-
tered the dark room, where I unpacked the box, select-
ing the particular plates decided upon, wrote my initials
across the corner of each, placed them in the two double
back dark slides and placed the remainder of the plates
together with the dark slides in my pocket. We ad-
journed to the studio, where Hope allowed me to
choose my position in relation to the background. Mr.
Walker sat in the chair, I focussed the portrait on the
focussing screen of the camera, placed the dark slide
in position and left all ready for making the exposure.
[102]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
I then went and took a seat beside Mr. Walker. Mr.
Hope manipulated the lens cap with one hand and with
his other clasped Mrs. Buxton’s, thus forming an arc
over the bellows of the camera. After the first plate
was exposed I went to the camera, closed the dark slide
and reversed it, then sat for the second exposure.
The third plate was next used. Mrs. Buxton asked
me to place the dark slide containing the only unex-
posed plate on her forehead, this I did for about ten
seconds.
I then retired with Mr. Hope to the dark room, where
I personally developed the four plates. On three out
of the four supernormal effects flashed up, and after
fixing in the hypo-bath we brought them out to the
light for examination.
Plate No. i, in addition to the normal image, showed
a lengthy message of exceedingly minute copperplate
writing, too small to read without the aid of the magni-
fying glass. I could just discern that there were Greek
characters intermingled with other languages, including
English.
No. 2 plate bore only the normal image.
No. 3 plate showed the supernormal figure of a lady
draped in some material of fine texture, standing by
my side.
No. 4 plate, the one held on Mrs. B.’s forehead,
showed a well-defined face of a lady.
The long message on No. i contained 145 words,
and was written in a jumble of languages, English,
Greek, French, and Latin, and concluded thus: “And
now, friends, we have given you this advice in mixed
languages, so that it will help to support the claim that
the unlearned of to-day possess the same powers as the
humble fishermen of biblical history. We thank you
for the common-sense way in which you have met us.
...” etc. It was quite two years before I was able
to get the Greek portion translated. I eventually met
a young Greek, a student of Armstrong College, New-
[103]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
castle, who told me that it was a very ancient style of
Greek. The message, when translated, was quite in-
telligible to me.
No. 3 plate, with supernormal portrait, proved to be
undeniably the portrait of the deceased mother of the
wife of my friend. On comparing it with a life portrait
it left no doubt in the mind of any reasonable person.
The portrait on No. 4 plate I cannot recognise.
I have a profound conviction that Mr. Hope is a
genuine medium, honest and straightforward, and it
would take a great deal to shake my confidence in his
integrity. I have followed his operations for years,
and find them a fruitful source of instruction. It is
only those who have experimented in “fake” effects who
can realise the difficulties, and with a knowledge of
photography I challenge any professional or amateur
photographer to produce anything approaching the
same effects under any conditions. They find it abso-
lutely impossible under the same conditions.
It is unthinkable that Mr. and Mrs. Buxton would
co-operate, aid and abet in a continuous fraud on the
widowed wife, the sorrowing parent.
{Signed) W. G. Mitchell.
3, Harewood Terrace,
Darlington.
An Account by J. WILLIAMS, ESQ.,
PHOTOGRAPHIC SPECIALIST, OF THE PORTLAND STUDIO,
RHYL
It is with the greatest pleasure that I add my testi-
mony to the truthfulness and absolute sincerity of Mr.
Hope and Mrs. Buxton.
They have been known to me for several years ; alto-
gether no less than six times I have had sittings with
them. In every case they have allowed me every facility
to eliminate any possible fraud, which as a photogra-
[104]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
pher of nearly fifty years’ experience, I was eager to
discover.
One experience with the Crewe Circle was this: at
one sitting I was asked what plate I would choose from
a packet of twelve plates; it was decided on the fourth
from the top of the packet. The camera was not used ;
Mr. Hope and I entered the dark room and only myself
touched the plates during development. On the fourth
plate was a message from the late Archdeacon Colley.
This negative I have by me and anyone wishing to see
same can do so with pleasure.
No one could wish for a better test than this ; no one
but myself touched the plates at any time during the
sitting. The plates I brought with me, tied with special
knots to prevent any opening of the packet or substi-
tuting of another packet.
( Signed ) Jno. Williams.
Portland Studio,
Rhyl.
The Testimony of JOSEPH HIGGINBOTTOM, ESQ.,
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE SHEFFIELD AND DISTRICT SOCIETY
FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH
{An account of a surprise visit in which the
sitter secured a likeness of his mother, of whom
no normal photograph is in existence.)
^ am pleased to have this opportunity of adding my
testimony to the honesty of Mr. Wm. Hope of the
Crewe Circle.
Herewith I enclose a ps> ic photograph of my
mother. [Not reproduced. — Ed.] It has been freely
recognised by those who knew her. Such is my con-
fidence in Mr. Hope that I cannot allow myself to
imagine for a moment that with his extraordinary gift,
in conjunction with Mrs. Buxton he would allow him-
[105]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
self to be led astray or deviate from the path of recti
tude under any circumstances.
( Signed ) J. Higginbottom.
Lees House,
Norton Lees,
Sheffield.
Proof from MRS. E. PICKUP,
OF 40, WATERLOO ROAD, BURNLEY LANCS.
(A strongly evidential case which describes how
the sitter visited the Crewe Circle as an absolute
stranger and without even an appointment, and
secured a striking likeness of her deceased hus-
band. ( See Figs. 28 and 29.) Extract from an
original letter to Mr. Hope.)
No words of mine can express my gratitude to you
since receiving the photos this morning. The extra one
is my dear husband, and just as I prayed he might come
— an exact copy of the one I had at home and the one
I liked best. Every detail is so clear and correct, even
to the dimple in the chin. What could be more con-
vincing, when I came to you an absolute stranger and
without even an appointment?
That visit will remain imprinted on my memory as
one of the brightest days in my life. I am sure after
such evidence as this and the way in which you carried
out your work, I need never suffer the pangs of loneli-
ness again, because I believe that God has taken him to
a higher sphere. He will still guide me and watch over
me so long as I do my part by keeping in touch with
God and His divine laws.
I don't know that I could ask for anything more.
My cup is full and overflowing. I trust that others who
come to you may get as good results, that they, too, may
know the joy and happiness it brings.
( Signed ) E. Pickup.
[106]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
From MRS. RISKER,
LATE OF DARLASTON
(An excellent case, in which the sitter secured
an undoubted likeness of her husband. A
number of questions were submitted to Mrs.
Risker, and her replies are given hereunder.)
I have great pleasure in answering the questions you
ask.
Question No. I. — If there is the slightest doubt con-
cerning “extra”?
None whatever.
Question No. 2. — Whether Mr. Hope or any one
connected with the Crewe Circle knew Mr. Risker be-
fore his death, or had seen any photograph of him prior
to visiting Crewe for this sitting?
No. The first time I ever knew of Mr. Hope or the
Crewe Circle was through an article written by Miss
Stead in Nash's Magazine during the latter part of 1916
(after my husband’s death, which occurred August
15th, 1916).
Question No. 3. — In what manner did I get into
touch with Crewe Circle?
The article which Miss Stead wrote appealed to me,
and knowing Miss Stead (by repute) to be a straight-
forward woman, the thought came, “Here apparently
is a tangible proof of the after-life.” Thereupon I did
not rest until I found out the address. Some weeks
later, a lady from Runcorn who knew nothing of me
gave me the address of Mr. Hope.
Since above I have paid six visits and have had nine
results — seven “extras” and two “skotographs” ; upon
five visits I have taken my own plates from Darlaston.
(Signed) M. C. Risker.
Late of Bilston Street ,
Darlaston.
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
An Expression of Opinion from LADY GREY
OF FALLODEN
I am perfectly ready to adhere to my conviction that
I have obtained evidence of supernormal activities
through the mediumship of the Crewe Circle, and this
I would maintain however conclusively they may have
been convicted of fraud on other occasions.
{Signed) Pamela Grey.
Wilsford Manor ,
Salisbury.
The Evidence of H. BLACKWELL, ESQ.,
A VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE S.S.S.P.
{Mr. Blackwell is one of the pioneers in the
history of psychic photography. His experiences
have been quite exceptional. This description
tells how he secured a photograph of a recently
deceased sister.)
With great pleasure I give my experience of the good
work done through the Crewe mediums. In April,
1920, having fixed an appointment with Mr. Hope for
a certain hour at the B.C.P.S., I was there to time with
an unopened box of plates. Of the four plates exposed
I found upon development that only two had any
psychic results.
These appeared to consist of several faint faces
merging one into the other. From the wet negatives I
could not recognise any of the features, so asked for
prints to be sent on in due course.
When the prints came to hand I was delighted to
recognise the face of my sister, but repeated five times,
as if in her agitation she could not concentrate suffi-
ciently and had moved during the exposure.
[108]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
She appeared as in her final illness two years previ-
ously, when I had gone down into the country to bid
“good-bye.”
As a testimony to the value of psychic photography
I may mention that through the mediumship of Mr.
R. Boursnell, in London, and of Mr. W. M. Keeler,
in Washington, I have received portraits of my grand-
father, mother, two sisters and several of my nieces.
A number of friend have also been taken in London
after promises given in Canada and elsewhere.
About twelve years ago, thanks to a personal friend
who then possessed wonderful materialising power, I
was enabled to obtain, using four cameras simultane-
ously, excellent photographs of my father, mother,
niece and several friends. They manifested for the
express purpose of being taken, and in each instance
the medium shows by the side of the spirit visitor.
The experiments were conducted in my house and in
presence of witnesses.
{Signed) H. Blackwell.
43, Brownswood Road ,
Finsbury Park, N. 4.
The Testimony of W. C. PUGH, ESQ.,
OF MIDDLESBROUGH
( A straight statement by an investigator who has
secured many recognised psychic photographic
results, through the Crewe Circle, in his own
home.)
It is a number of years since I first sat with the
Crewe Circle, and I have sat with them quite a dozen
times since, and on each occasion I have received con-
vincing proof of the genuineness of their phenomena.
I have beside me quite a collection of photographs
[109]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
taken by them, and each photo has a message of its
own; some contain extras of friends who have passed
on, and others contain messages from interested friends
beyond the grave. The extras on practically all my
photos have been recognised by relatives and friends.
I enclose copy of one of these with two extras which
have been readily recognised by all my friends as my
father and mother, both of whom had passed on before
I met the Crewe Circle. I also enclose copies of orig-
nal photos for comparison. [Not reproduced. — Ed.]
My opportunities for testing the genuineness of the
Crewe Circle’s work have been unique because they
have taken over a hundred photos in my house in
Middlesbrough. When they have spent a few days
here they have lived with us. My wife and I made all
the arrangements for their visit, and entertained them
during their stay. Applications for sittings were made
to us and we fixed them up. In the vast majority of
cases the Crew Circle had never seen the sitters till they
arrived at their appointed times. In many cases they
never saw them again. Yet their success has been phe-
nomenal. Many have received photos with extras
which they recognised at sight. Others have taken
them home and had them recognised by friends or other
members of their families.
The Circle brought no plates with them. Each sit-
ter provided his or her own. My sitting-room was the
studio. My bath-room was the developing room. Un-
used plates were left behind when the Circle went away,
and my lad, who has a camera, has been supplied with
a stock of plates for use amongst his friends.
To those of us who know the members of the circle
so well, some of the statements appearing in the Press
have been very amusing. The idea of Mr. Hope beat-
ing the conjurers at their own game is too ridiculous
for words. Expert photographers who have had ex-
perience of Mr. Hope’s methods must also have been
greatly amused.
[no]
Fig. 24. — Photograph of Mrs. R. Foulds, of Fig. 25. — Photograph of Mrs. Foulds’
Sheffield, with psychic photograph of her mother for comparison with psychic effect
mother, obtained under good test conditions. on Fig. 24.
Compare with Fig. 25. ( See p. 125.)
Fir" 26.— Photograph of Mrs. A. E. Griere with Fjg. 27.— Photograph of Mrs. Griere’s
psychic likeness of husband and father. The sitter husband for comparison with his psychic
was a total stranger to the Crewe Circle. Com- likeness on Fig. 26.
pare the lower face with Fig. 27. {See p. 127.)
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
Then there is the question of motive. Let me state
that the Crewe Circle have never had one penny piece
out of their various visits to Middle sb or o' . We
charged sufficient from each sitter to pay railway ex-
penses only, nothing more. We paid for the railway
tickets, that was all. Where on earth was the incentive
for these people to leave their homes to come here to
deceive us? One’s sense of humour must have been
neglected if they cannot see that the whole of the
charges are too funny for words.
That the phenomena are genuine I am con-
vinced. What is behind the phenomena is another
matter, and does not enter into the present question.
If the scientists care to continue to drag on behind
plain common-sense people let them do so. I have
scores of good friends who have had that experience
which no scientist can take from them, and I prefer
to accept their opinions, along with my own experience,
rather than listen to those people whose one desire
seems to be to bolster up preconceived ideas.
The world would be better for some more people as
honest as are the members of the Crewe Circle.
( Signed ) William Cowell Pugh.
6i, St. Paul's Road ,
Middlesbrough.
An Account by MRS. MARGARET ELLINOR
(A description of three remarkable recognised
likenesses obtained by a lady photographer.)
I am anxious to help to prove the truth of psychic
photography, and with this end in view I am sending
herewith three photographs taken by Mr. Hope, of
Crewe, under test conditions, which contain recognised
“extras.” [Not reproduced. — Ed.]
Might I say that in the first place I was extremely
[in]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
sceptical, haying some knowledge of photography.
Even after myself obtaining a “psycho graph” I was
still in a doubtful frame of mind, and attended the
British College of Psychic Science to gather further
evidence.
In this way I came into contact with Mr. Hope and
Mrs. Buxton, and by and by arranged through the
agency of Mrs. McKenzie, of the College, to have a
test sitting with Mr. Hope. The results of this sitting,
quite apart from any subsequent sittings, provided what
to my mind were conclusive proofs of Mr. Hope’s gifts
and absolute integrity.
Enclosed are four photographs marked. All these
were taken under the most stringent test conditions. I
took with me some plates which had previously been
marked secretly by a second party (a sceptic). These
plates were then put into the slide by Mr. Hope in my
presence ; the slide was never for a moment out of my
observation and I subsequently followed every manipu-
lation.
In the case of the photographs (i) and (2) the
extra is of my father. An old original photograph of
my father is enclosed. It will be observed that the
extras give a view from a different angle to the origi-
nal in each case. My father was unknown to Mr. Hope
— there were no photographs of my father available
to Mr. Hope — my father passed over when I was nine
years of age.
In photograph (3) the extra is of my father-in-law,
an original of whom is enclosed. My husband’s father
has been passed over seven years, and no photograph
of him could be available to Mr. Hope.
[112]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
Photograph (4) was taken at another sitting at my
home. It is especially interesting inasmuch as the extra
thereon was unrecognised at the time. After a lapse of
time, through incidents I need not explain, I obtained a
clue to the identity of the “extra.” Finally I was able
to ascertain that the “extra” was one of my girlhood’s
friends who has now been passed on many years. I
was able to secure an old original photograph, which is
enclosed.
Having been a sceptic myself, I can sympathise with
those who find it difficult to credit these puzzling phe-
nomena. At the same time, I suggest that Mr. Hope
is entitled to the sympathetic treatment and fair deal-
ing that should be accorded to anyone who brings for-
ward evidence in support of the super-physical.
{Signed) Margaret Ellinor.
77, 'Atlantic Road ,
Brixton > S.W. 9.
From SAMUEL MADDOCKS, ESQ.,
HON. SECRETARY OF THE SHEFFIELD AND DISTRICT SOCIETY
FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH
{The psychic effect secured by Mr. Maddocks on
the occasion of the third sitting described here-
under is shown by hg. 22. A normal photograph
of the late Mrs. Maddocks is given for com-
parison [fig. 23].)
I am absolutely convinced that Mr. Hope and Mrs.
Buxton are transparently honest and honourable, most
reverent in their Circle meetings, and their only desire
[113]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
is to give comfort and consolation to those who have
lost a loved one. To impute fraud or trickery to them
wounded me to the quick.
After several months’ waiting I obtained three sit-
tings (with three extras) as follows:
1st Sitting. — To my great surprise the “extra” was
not my first wife, but the following message:
‘Kind friends, we are glad to meet you and for
the benefit of your friend of the Psychic Research
Society we are giving this message, so that he may
understand that, given the right conditions, these
works can be done, and we ask you for our dear
medium’s sake, to speak of it as you find it. God
bless you.”
2nd Sitting. — This “extra” was quite unknown to
me, but on reaching home (Sheffield) my second wife
(clairvoyant) exclaimed, “Why, that’s the same face
I’ve seen in our bedroom nearly every night.”
yd Sitting. — The “extra” was my first wife at last!
I recognised it instantly, also relatives and friends, as a
very good picture of what she looked like at the end of
twenty months’ agony from cancer. All her teeth were
extracted during her illness on the advice of a London
physician, and that accounts for the sunken appearance
of the mouth. (See Figure 22.)
The normal photo was taken several years previously.
(See Figure 23.)
( Signed ) Samuel Maddocks.
Supt. Royal Blind School,
BroomhiU,
Sheffield.
[1 14]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
The Testimony of JAS. P. SKELTON, ESQ.,
OF BELFAST
{The account tells how Mr. Skelton obtained a
photograph of his mother, and how later, with
two friends, he was present when the famous
message from the late Dr. W. J. Crawford was
obtained on a photographic plate of their own,
under strict test conditions. See figs. 3 and 4.)
I have known Mr. Hope for four or five years now,
and have sat with him about a dozen times as well as
being closely associated during his and Mrs. Buxton’s
two visits to Belfast.
On January 4th, 1922, my mother passed to the
higher life. I was summoned to Blackburn on Sat-
urday, January 28th, 19 22, and as I could not return
to Belfast sooner than the Monday night, I decided to
make a visit to Crewe with the hope that I might get
her photograph. I wrote to Mr. Hope and made an
appointment for the Monday morning, January 30th,
1922, and received his reply agreeing. On the night
before I crossed to England, we held a brief circle at
home, and by means of a small table, my mother mani-
fested. I told her of my intention of going to Crewe
and the time that I would be sitting, and she signified
that she would do her best to get through. I arrived
in Crewe on the day arranged (about 10 a.m.), and
found that Mrs. Buxton was ill in bed and could not
sit. Naturally I was much disappointed. Mr. Hope
noticing it, said, “Never mind, we will sit without her
and do the best we can.” Mrs. Buxton’s daughter
[115]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
sat in her place, Mr. Hope and myself completed the
circle. The usual methods were adopted. The packet
of plates which I bought in Crewe about five minutes
before I reached 144, Market Street were lying on
the table during the course of the sitting in full view
of all. Mr. Hope and I then proceeded to the dark
room, where I initialled the second two plates in the
packet, and loaded the slide with them. Never once
did Mr. Hope touch them. Miss Buxton and Mr. Hope
arranged the camera, etc., after which I handed Mr.
Hope the slide. He exposed the two plates and I after-
wards developed them myself. On the first was the
face of my mother, just as she appeared a few days
prior to her death. The plate was hurriedly dried and
a print was made for me to take with me, both Mr.
Hope and Mrs. Buxton, who knew her recognised it
at once. Everyone at home who knew her recognised
it immediately, one gentleman saying, “I don’t know
anything about spiritualism, but if you want an inde-
pendent testimony, I am prepared to go on any platform
and testify to this being your mother’s photograph.”
To me the remarkable thing was, that it was secured
exactly twenty-six days after her death. To say Mr.
Hope tricked, substituted plates, or in any way de-
frauded, is puerile.
On a previous occasion I secured a photograph of an
old friend of our family who died when I was a boy.
It was not recognised for a week after getting it, and
then only by chance. I compared an original photo-
graph of her and it proved the identity up to the hilt.
My most recent experience was the securing of the
now famous “Crawford” message signed by himself.
[116]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
Mr. J. W. Gillmour, Mr. S. G. Donaldson and myself,
all of Belfast, were travelling to the Conferences of the
S.N.U., Ltd., in London, and we decided to break our
journey at Crewe. Mr. Gillmour bought a packet of
ordinary Imperial quarter-plates from Mr. John Bell,
of Garfield Street, Belfast, on Thursday, June 29th,
1922, telling Mr. Bell the purpose for which they were
required. Mr. Bell parcelled it up and sealed with wax.
We crossed to Liverpool same night. Mrs. Crawford
also crossed over with us and we travelled together to
Crewe, Mrs. Crawford went on to London and we went
to see Mr. Hope, arriving there about 10.30 a.m. The
usual sitting was arranged, Mr. Gillmour produced the
sealed packet, and we all saw the seal was unbroken.
It was then broken and the packet was seen to be intact
as it came from Mr. Bell’s shop. The unopened packet
was held between the hands of all present. Mr. Don-
aldson then took the packet and proceeded with Mr.
Hope to load the slides in the dark room, Mr. Donald-
son alone handled the plates from beginning to end.
We were all photographed together at first, and then
separately. The first plate exposed shews a message
from Dr. Crawford. With Mr. Gillmour as a sitter
there appears an (as yet) unknown face. With Mr.
Donaldson there was no psychic effect. With myself
a bright light appeared. We were all present at the
development and at no time did Mr. Hope touch the
plates. Mr. Donaldson did all the work under our
careful scrutiny. The result was a surprise to us all.
(See Figures 2 and 4.)
We are, however, mutually agreed that it is a bona
1 1 17]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
fide message from Dr. Crawford in his own handwrit-
ing, with which I am well acquainted.
( Signed ) Jas. P. Skelton.
651, Lisborn Road ,
Balmoral ,
Belfast.
From MISS ESTELLE STEAD
During the last seven or eight years I have had sev-
eral sittings with the Crewe Circle, and can state truly
that I have always found both Mr. Hope and Mrs. Bux-
ton most anxious to have me examine the dark room,
the camera, the slides, the room in which the photo-
graphs were taken, and had I wished to examine any-
thing else I am sure they would have agreed to my
doing so.
At some sittings I have had no results, whilst at
others the results have been excellent.
The very first time I visited Crewe I bought a box
of plates in London and took it with me. Mr. Hope
never handled the box at all excepting in my presence,
and we obtained two excellent pictures of my father.
During that same visit I bought a box of plates in
Crewe, neither Mr. Hope nor Mrs. Buxton had any
idea at which shop I bought it. I sealed the box and
took it with me to 144, Market Street. I held it in my
hands until we, Mr. Hope, Mrs. Buxton, Mr. Harry
Walker, at whose house I was staying, and myself —
were seated round the table. I then placed the box on
the table, where it remained visible to all, as the room
was well lighted by gas, whilst we held the little service
usually held by the Crewe Circle. We all then placed
[118]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
our hands under and over the box and held it in this
way for a little while. I then placed the bottom of the
box against Mrs. Buxton’s forehead and then held it
between my hands whilst instructions were given,
through Mr. Hope, to the effect that I should go into
the dark room with him, unseal the box myself, take
out the bottom plate and the plate next to it. I was
told to take particular note as to which was the bottom
plate. I was instructed to develop the two plates in Mr.
Hope’s presence, but not to allow him to touch them
until I had developed them. Note, the box was not
unsealed until we went into the dark room, and the
plates were never exposed to the light at all.
Nothing appeared on the bottom plate, nor was there
any sign of fogging. On the other plate were two mes-
sages, one in Archdeacon Colley’s handwriting and one
in Mr. William Walker’s handwriting, together with a
faint outline of my father’s face.
About one year after receiving the above I went up
to Crewe with Miss Scatcherd. I had previously, with-
out saying a word to Miss Scatcherd or anyone, made
an engagement with my brother Will, who passed over
in 1907, to meet me there and give his picture if he
could manage to do so. Miss Scatcherd thought I
wanted a picture of my father or a message from him.
I do not think either Mr. Hope or Mrs. Buxton knew of
my brother’s existence, and even if they did they cer-
tainly had no means of getting hold of his photograph.
I took my own plates from town. On the very first
plate exposed by brother’s face appears between Miss
Scatcherd and myself.
During a visit the Crewe Circle paid to the “W. T.
[1 19]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Stead” Bureau in Baker Street in 1919, at my father’s
request I took my mother to have a sitting with them
without advising them beforehand as to who it was I
was bringing. I took my own plates, put them in the
slides myself and stood over Mr. Hope whilst he devel-
oped the plates after the sitting. On the plate exposed
on my mother alone there appears a very good picture
of my father.
( Signed ) E. W. Stead.
5, Smith Square ,
S.W. 1.
The Evidence of MRS. ELLEN JONES,
OF KEMPSTON
(Mrs. Jones relates how on two occasions she
obtahied an excellent likeness of her deceased
husband. The second photograph referred to
shows a remarkable likeness on comparison with
a normal photograph.)
I had a sitting at Crewe, about four years ago, and
again this last March. Success attended both sittings.
The March sitting took place in my own house; Mr.
Hope and Mrs. Buxton stayed with us a couple of days
and we got a photo with three “extras” on one plate.
We consider the last one a perfect likeness of my hus-
band just as he was before his last illness. The first
was very good, only rather too much like what he was
at the time of passing over, so, you see, it was rather
painful, but a truthful likeness. My son was with Mr.
Hope the whole time he developed the plates. He
[120]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
knows quite a lot about photography, and we used our
own plates.
(Signed) Ellen Jones.
Rees Cottage,
Kempston.
Beds.
From THE REV. G. VALE OWEN
I have had several sittings with Mr. Wm. Hope and
Mrs. Buxton at Crewe. I will briefly relate one
experience.
In 1910 I was just dropping off to sleep when I saw,
in the far corner of the room, a beautiful girl’s face
smiling at me. It slowly disappeared sideways behind
a screen. I wondered who the owner was. It was
slightly oval, radiant with joy, and the eyes were laugh-
ing at me with just a touch of roguish enjoyment at
my perplexity. There was a certain efflorescence perme-
ating it, a light which did not proceed from an exterior
object, but which seemed to be one with the substance
of which the face was composed. But it was not a
mask. It was a living face.
About eight years later I saw the same face again,
this time about six inches from my own. On this sec-
ond occasion there came into my mind, as if intention-
ally projected there, the name “Ruby.” Ruby is my
daughter who passed away at the age of fifteen months
in 1896.
In August, 1917, my wife and I paid a visit to the
Crewe Circle. On one of the negatives appeared the
face I had already seen clairvoyantly. It was not full-
face, as I had seen it on the two previous occasions, but
[121]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
in profile. This disposes of the theory that it might
have been a thought- form of my own.
Later on, we were having a talk with this spirit-child
of ours in our own home at Orford, and I took the op-
portunity to ask her if it was she who had managed
to get her picture on the plate at Crewe. Her reply
was : “I don’t know, daddy. I was there and tried to.
I should love to have done it. Did I?” My answer
was that I was satisfied that she had done so.
I also asked her why it was in profile and she said it
was in order that she might shew her hair. Even when
she passed away as a baby her abundant light-brown
hair was an exceptional feature. On the photograph
it was also conspicuous.
I am satisfied that the picture is the likeness of my
daughter Ruby. We have received more than one de-
scription of her as she appears in the spirit life and this
portrait tallies with these descriptions.
I am at one with several of my friends who have sat
with them in their conviction that there is no trickery
used by these mediums in the production of results
obtained.
On all my visits to Crewe I have been struck with
the transparent honesty a^d earnestness of both Mr.
Hope and Mrs. Buxton. The only conclusion to which
I can come is that they are out for the sole purpose of
helping others with their rare gift, at great cost to
their own comfort and convenience. Personally I am
grateful to them for their self-sacrificing service.
{Signed) G. Vale Owen.
Orford Vicarage ,
Warrington.
[122]
/
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
The Testimony of F. J. TWELVES, ESQ.,
OF MANCHESTER
Having had well over twenty sittings with Mr. Hope
and Mrs. Buxton of the Crewe Circle, as well as
intimate acquaintance of sittings of close friends, I
have no hesitation in expressing absolute conviction
of the genuineness of the results obtained.
With the exception of photographs of our own son, I
cannot say that many were undoubtedly recognised.
We have, however, had many photographs of our boy
about which there could be no doubt on the part of
anybody who knew him at all well. Of course, ordinary
photographs of an individual taken from different
angles or in different positions shew considerable di-
vergence; perhaps the one approximating nearest to
the last photo before transition is the one taken on
October 16th, 1921, copy of which I enclose together
with print of the pretransitional photograph for com-
parison. [Not reproduced. — Ed.]
The clearest photo we have had taken of him was on
December nth, 1020.
{Signed) Fred J. Twelves
55, Victoria Road,
Whatley Range,
Manchester.
The Testimony of
ALDERMAN W. WHITEFIELD, J.P.,
OF BRISTOL
On August 19th, 1921, I called at Crewe on my way
home from Llandudno and made my way to the house
[123]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
of Mrs. Buxton. I took with me a sealed packet of
plates. I have done a considerable amount of photo-
graphic work in days gone by. I examined the camera,
placed the plates into the slides myself in the dark room
and developed and fixed them myself. As regards the
psychic results secured, my good wife and myself have
not the slightest doubt that it is a photograph of one
of our daughters. I do pray that this knowledge may
bring joy and comfort to some sorrowing heart.
{Signed) W. Whitefield.
St. George,
Bristol .
An Account of MRS. D. HARTWELL,
OF NORTHAMPTON
( The photograph referred to by Mrs. Hartwell ,
when compared with a normal photograph of
her late husband, leaves no doubts whatever as
to the question of recognition.)
I went to Mr. Hope as a complete stranger and when
I received the photograph, I recognised the “extra” to
be the likeness of my husband, whom I had lost during
the war. It was also recognised by all of his most inti-
mate friends to whom it was shown.
You have my full permission to make whatever
use of it you wish, and am only too pleased to do any-
thing in my power to help forward this beautiful cause.
{Signed) D. Hartwell.
2 , St. Giles Terrace,
Northampton.
[124]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
An Account by MRS. R. FOULDS,
OF SHEFFIELD
(Mrs. Foulds, an experienced photographer ,
describes how she obtained a psychic photograph
of her mother and a psychograph of more than
seventy words, under good test conditions. The
psychic photograph showing Mrs. Foulds’s
mother is reproduced in fig. 24, with normal
photograph of the same lady, fig. 25, for com-
parison.)
The “extra” of my mother (Figure 24) was obtained
at 144, Market Street, Crewe, in February, 1920, under
the following conditions : I took a sealed packet of
plates, also my own slide, which, though slightly dif-
ferent from Mr. Hope’s, fitted his camera; after the
usual sitting I went into the dark room, broke the seal,
opened the packet of plates, placed one in each division
of the slide, initialled them, put slide in my dress, also
rest of plates, after being focussed I placed slide in
camera after a thorough examination of same, resumed
my seat, when the usual exposure was made. I then
took slide from camera, went into dark room and
developed plates, with result that one was normal and
the other bore a good likeness of my mother (recog-
nised by all of the family who have seen it) . Then Mr.
Hope said, “I would like you to choose another plate,
any one you like, from your packet, and develop that,
too.” I chose the one next but one to the bottom of
packet, and on developing that, obtained a message of
upward of seventy words dealing with matters of a
strictly private nature.
[125]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
I wish to state most emphatically that from begin-
ning to end of the experiment, the packet of plates never
left my person, and those developed were not touched
in any way whatever by Mr. Hope or Mrs. Buxton until
they left the fixing bath, neither did the slide leave my
possession except when I placed it in the camera.
( Signed ) R. Foulds.
84a, Eastbank Road,
Sheffield.
From C. DOVE, ESQ.,
OP SUTTON-IN-ASHFIELD
(In forwarding four psychic photographs with
normal photographs for comparison, Mr. Dove
gives the attestation hereunder.)
I can absolutely assure you that these photographs
were taken under strictest test conditions in my home
and in the presence of seven reliable witnesses who are
willing to attest to their genuineness.
I myself bought the plates, etc., and was the only one
who handled them until they were developed, which
was keenly watched by all. Mr. Hope never actually
touched the plates. They are fine photographs of Mr.
W. J. Cary, Mr. Geo. Dove, of whom there is no normal
photo in existence, and Mrs. Catton. I can quite well
assure you that they caused quite a sensation in Sutton-
in-Ashfield where all of them were w^ell known.
(Signed) Charles Dove.
Homelea,
Oak Tree Road ,
Sutt on-in- Ash field.
[126]
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CONCLUSIVE PROOF
The Evidence of MRS. A. ELIZABETH GRIERE,
OF DUNFERMLINE
( The likenesses of father and husband were
obtained on one photograph, the features of the
latter being clearer than those of the sitter.
This photograph is shewn by fig. 26. Fig. 27
reproduced alongside gives a normal photograph
of Mr. Griere for comparison.)
I have great pleasure in forwarding the enclosed
pictures. My sitting with Mr. Hope took place in
December of 1921. I brought my own plates as di-
rected, and I wish to state that throughout the whole
proceedings Mr. Hope did not handle these plates unless
to load the camera out in the studio. I took them out
of the wrapper, placed them in the slide, unloaded and
developed them. The result of the sitting you have
before you.
I am perfectly satisfied that the “extra” on No. 1
picture is the face of my husband, and on No. 2 the
‘extras” are those of my husband and my father. You
will see the undoubted resemblance to the original
photograph herewith enclosed. I was a total stranger
0 Mr. Hope and his good friend , Mrs. Buxton , and I
hall always remain indebted to them both for their
ourtesy during my visit to Crewe. I trust this picture
lay be of some use to you.
( Signed ) A. Elizabeth Griere.
20, Woodmill Road,
Dunfermline.
[127]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
The Evidence of E. W. LEE, ESQ.,
OF SHANKLIN, ISLE OF WIGHT
I am enclosing four photographs, one normal and
three psychographs. [Not reproduced. — Ed.] All the
psychographs were taken in Crewe. Our first meeting
was arranged through the post. We were quite
strangers and had no mutual acquaintances likely to
be in touch with each other. I live in the Isle of Wight;
Mr. Hope in Crewe.
The photograph obtained on the first occasion bears
the strongest likeness to my dear wife.
The whole operations, less the fixing of the slide in
the camera and making the exposure, were undertaken
by myself. Although I had not the slightest reason
to suspect Mr. Hope, I treated him by my actions as a
man open to swindle his patrons.
I am satisfied, bearing in mind that Mr. Hope had
not access to any photograph of my wife and following
upon the very short time we were together for the first
time in our lives, that the result of that sitting could
not be produced or attained solely by any material
means known to mankind, science and legerdemain
included.
In June of this year as we were motoring through
the country a friend and myself called in Crewe. No
appointment had been made with Mr. Hope, but we
found him at home. Our dear discamate friends just
before leaving the island on June 4th and June nth of
this year stated they would go with us, and my friend’s
wife, who had passed over in November, 1921, stated
to her husband that he should see her again. To fulfil
[128]
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
this promise we called at Crewe. The small figure at
the back is my friend’s wife. The other one, if you
will compare it with the normal photograph, will not
be difficult to identify as my dear wife. On this occa-
sion the features are most sharply defined.
I cannot express my thanks too warmly to the Crewe
Circle and my own dear discarnate friends for the
trouble taken on our behalf.
( Signed ) E. W. Lee, Esq.
Fearnside,
Clarence Road,
Isle of Wight.
The Evidence of R. S. HIPWOOD, ESQ.,
OF SUNDERLAND
We lost our only son in France, August 27th, 1918.
Being a good amateur photographer, I was curious
about the photos that had been taken by the Crewe
Circle. We took our own plate with us and I put the
plate in the dark slide myself and put my name on it.
We exposed two plates in the camera and got a well-
recognised photo. Even my nine-year-old grandson
could tell who the extra was without anyone saying
anything to him. Having a thorough knowledge of
photography, I can vouch for the veracity of the photo-
graph in every particular. I claim the print which I
send you to be an ordinary photograph of myself and
Mrs. Hipwood with the extra of my son, R. W. Hip-
wood, 13th Welsh Regiment, killed in France in the
[129]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
great advance in August, 1918. I tender to our friends
at Crewe our unbounded confidence in their work.
{Signed) R. S. Hipwood.
174, Cleveland Road ,
Sunderland.
From LEWIS CHILDS, ESQ.,
OF SHEFFIELD
( This description tells of a compact made between
two friends that the one to pass over first should
endeavour to manifest to the other. The one
friend died , and a few months later Mr. Childs
went to Crewe and obtained a fine photograph of
his friend, independently recognised by between
two hundred and three hundred people who knew
him. Mr. Childs' account is accompanied by
certificate of recognition from the members of
the deceased man's family, who were not
spiritualists.)
For five years I worked side by side with Mr. R. H.
Turton, and on several occasions tried to interest him
in psychic matters by showing him various spirit photo-
graphs which I and various friends had secured. He
generally greeted the matter contemptuously, and often
used the words “bunkum” and “rubbish.” On one
notable occasion, however, after a long argument, he
and I made a compact that which ever of us passed
away first should endeavour to give the other some evi-
dence of continued existence beyond death.
Mr. Turton passed away on March 17th of this
year. Seven weeks later I visited the Crewe Circle.
I made no appointment, and Mr. Hope and Mrs. Bux-
CONCLUSIVE PROOF
ton could have no idea that I was coming. I took a
packet of plates with me and conducted the usual ex-
amination of the apparatus used. I opened the box of
plates and loaded the carrier. After the exposure had
been made I developed and fixed the plate. Everything
was in my own hands. As the image came up in the
developing dish I noted the face of a man above my
right shoulder. The print shows a remarkable likeness
to my friend, R. H. Turton, and I am convinced that
he has thus fulfilled the compact made betwixt us.
I have shown it to his relatives and friends, and his
shopmates, and they have no hesitation in recognising
the photograph. Though none of the relatives are
spiritualists, they assert that it resembles him as he
lay in his coffin. No photograph of Mr. Turton had
been taken recently, and I cannot discover one which
bears any resemblance to this.
Thus did my friend keep his compact, to convince
me that memory lives beyond death.
{Signed) L. Childs.
4 2, Glover Road ,
Lowfield ,
Sheffield.
An Account by MRS. A. A. PEARS,
OF COVENTRY
On returning from our holidays on August 20th,
1918, my husband and myself paid a surprise call at
144, Market Street, Crewe. About three years previ-
ously we had lost our little boy of fourteen. None of
the members of the Crewe Circle had ever seen him, or
[131]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
even a photograph of him. On this occasion we were
successful in obtaining a wonderful photograph of our
dear boy. I have not the least doubt about the reality
and genuineness of this photograph. Later on, when
in Coventry, Mr. Hope kindly photographed my little
boy’s grave, and we again obtained a fine photograph
of him as he was just before he entered the higher life.
With the Crewe Circle I have obtained some remark-
able results. No one acquainted with the members of
that Circle would for a moment doubt their honesty,
and I pray that God may bless and prosper them in
their good work and the sacrifices they make for the
benefit of their fellowrs.
{Signed) A. A. Pears.
30, Dorset Road,
Coventry.
What reply can be given to such definite statements
as these here enumerated by reputable witnesses in every
grade of life? Every reader with an open mind will
agree that the evidence for the reality of psychic pho-
tography is overwhelming. It is only necessary to
repeat that these reports form but part of a tremendous
mass of accumulated evidence, which is available for
any serious student to investigate. Unfortunately, in
a popular volume of this description it is possible only
to reproduce just a few of the photographic results
referred to. As far as possible, however, these photo-
graphic effects are being accumulated and preserved
so as to form a permanent record of the truth of psychic
photography
THE END
[132]
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